Sounds noir

PICK the cream of the York Live Music Festival month, and it has to be the jazz selection.

Yapham promoter David Porter has excelled himself with his quartet of signings for the J-Night international jazz series: South Africa's ambassadors of world music, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, last night at York Barbican Centre; the Guy Barker International Septet, at Temple Hall, York St John College, tonight (23rd) at 8pm; the Soweto Kinch Quartet, National Centre for Early Music, tomorrow, 7.30pm; and John Warren's Brass Junction, NCEM, Sunday, 7.30pm.

Chiswick trumpeter Guy Barker is on a hot streak, busy in concert performance and recording studio alike, and the recipient of close attention from award panels, too.

On the heels of his nomination for the 2003 Mercury Music Prize for Soundtrack, his tribute to the film-noir soundtracks of the 1940s and '50s, come three more nominations in the BBC Jazz Awards 2003. Guy is in the running for the Best Instrumentalist, Best Band (the Guy Barker Septet) and Best Album (Soundtrack) at the awards ceremony in London on July 29.

"My other love after music is film noir," says Guy. "I wrote one piece that was inspired by the book Underdogs, and that sounded filmic, and when I finished it I decided I'd like to write something in a film-noir style for each of the band members.

"So I started playing around with the idea, and it began to take shape with what sounded like the opening credits of a movie." What followed, for example, was a tenor sax piece designed to evoke Cary Grant and an alto sax piece work to spark thoughts of Lauren Bacall.

The project has taken on a life of its own, so much so that the Barbican (the London version, not York's) asked him to orchestrate Sounds In Black And White for a seven-piece band and 60-piece symphony orchestra, and the BBC so loved the concert that it will film a second performance at Brecon Festival on August 8.

"It's amazing how things develop, yet at the beginning I was almost embarrassed about it as it's full of filmic clichs!" says Guy.

Last weekend, Guy and his septet had another commission from the BBC, playing with musicians from around the world at the Pizza Express jazz club in Dean Street, London, for broadcast in June on the World Service in a series entitled Guy Barker's World Caf.

From Brazil came vocalist Cibelle; from India, Baluji Shrivastar, sitar and percussion; from Cuba, Omar Puente, violin; from Zimbabwe, Stella Chiweshe, mbira and vocals; from Jamaica, Brushy One-String, a guitarist who does indeed play on only one string.

"Some of the audience knew what was in store, some were just expecting a Guy Barker International Septet gig, but there we were recording two of the programmes each night back to back with two guests for each programme, and then we'd do a long second half on our own," he says.

"It was an amazing experience, especially the Jamaican one-string guitarist. He was fantastic. Just one string!"

The series will be broadcast to 140 million listeners around the world, predominantly in Africa and India.

Tonight's audience in York will, of course, be somewhat smaller as Guy plays a set featuring his film noir album. He continues a schedule that latterly has taken him from the Cheltenham Festival to Sheffield's Non Political Club; Pizza Express; rehearsals on Tuesday then recording on Wednesday of incidental music for use in films and on TV; and onwards to playing Poole last night, York this evening, then Bracknell and Bath over the weekend. Plenty of travel ahead.

"That's nothing," says Guy. "When I was working with Carla Bley, we did Paris, Athens and Molde, in Norway, in three days!"

After Soweto Kinch tomorrow, the J Night series concludes with Sunday's performance by John Warren's Brass Junction: 12 musicians comprising five jazz players and seven of Yorkshire's best brass band musicians. In his adopted home city of York, the Canadian composer and leader of Voice Of The North will be premiering Mixing It, an uplifting and inspirational new work for jazz quintet and brass band "choir".

All that jazz adds up to make York the jazz hot-spot of the Bank Holiday weekend. For tickets, ring 01904 658338.

Please note, French saxophonist Olivier Temime will be playing in the Guy Barker International Septet tonight, rather than the advertised Denys Baptiste.

Updated: 10:02 Friday, May 23, 2003