Jazz at the Kempen stop
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When the vibraphone becomes the center of energetic jazz
The Milt Jackson Project at the Kempen stop: vibraphonist Matthias Strucken (second from left) is waiting for the next call.
Photo: Norbert Prümen
The campaign The “Milt Jackson Project” as a guest in the Kempen “Haltestelle”: virtuoso vibraphonist Matthias Strucken with equally enthusiastic musicians at his side played brilliantly. Why the audience loved it.
Milt Jackson, the US vibraphonist from Detroit and co-founder of the legendary modern jazz quartet, is the idol of the German jazz vibraphonist Matthias Strucken, who founded the “Milton Jackson Project” specifically to pay homage to his great role model. The quartet, which includes the band leader, the pianist Martin Sasse, the drummer Dominik Raab and the double bass player Matthias Novak, now played in the “Haltestelle” in Kempen and inspired with fast-paced jazz standards and creative original compositions by Matthias Strucken.
Wolfgang Thier from the “Haltestelle” team was delighted that following almost three years of preparatory work, the concert with the “Milt Jackson Project” might finally take place. Those who had come to the “bus stop” then experienced jazz at its finest. It doesn’t happen that often that you can listen to a brilliant vibraphonist like Matthias Strucken and watch his fingers. He showed impressively what you can get out of this melodious instrument (not to be confused with the wooden instrument xylophone) if you master it as masterly as Matthias Strucken does. And at his side the excellent Martin Sasse on the piano. Drummer Dominik Raab sets his own accents and bassist Matthias Nova supports his colleagues perfectly.
The energetic “Sweet Emma”, a composition by Nat Adderley, the somewhat less well-known brother of “Cannonball” Adderley, dedicated to the US pianist and singer Emma Barrett, and then the first original composition “Lock down, lock up” are wonderful Corona related. George Gershwin’s ballad “I loves you Porgy” from “Porgy and Bess” was particularly catchy. That’s also the slang jargon for the quartet’s latest record.
“Un dia bonito” is an extremely brisk samba, which was also composed by Matthias Strucken. Also from his pen: the “Bossa Nova Rona” played followingwards. The band leader once once more proved himself on his instrument on the fast-paced “Road Song”, which is another standard. “Four Brothers” by Woody Herman followed, with whom Milt Jackson played together in the early 1950s.
The “bouncer” with the title “Plunk” was rousing, before Keith Jarrett intoned “God bless the child” as a request for an encore at the end of a concert worth listening to. The quartet around the “Milt Jackson Project” inspired with the profound jazz that these virtuoso musicians know how to play.
The next highlight in the “Haltestelle” is the meeting with “Armstrong’s Ambassadors” on Sunday, September 4th, where everything revolves around the unforgettable jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Among others, Colin Dawson (trumpet and vocals) and Engelbert Wrobel (clarinet and vocals). English, Scots, Australians and Germans play together in this “Tribute to Satchmo”. Tickets are now available at the “Haltestelle”: www.haltestelle-kempen.de.