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DVD/Video/Film Reviews
Bill Bruford & Michiel Borstlap: In Concert In Holland
John Kelman
With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, John wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.Supplementing the Nijmegen show is an additional 35 minutes of footage from a performance in Maastricht. Bruford's backstage banter is wryly amusing, and provides a light-hearted introduction to the actual concert footage. But the real meat is the roughly 30 minute performance that includes the only carry-over to their '03 and '04 performances that would be used for Every Step a Dance, being an unusually abstract reading of Monk's "'Round Midnight." Recorded with a single camera and with sound coming from the house rather than a board mix, this is decidedly low-tech compared to the Nijmegen performance. Still, it provides further insight into the inner workings of the duo, with plenty of excitement all around and, surprisingly, even a fairly straightforward blues on "Sintar Klaas is Boos."
Keyboard and drum duos clearly have a more limited audience. But if one can get past the stigma attached to a format that is less-than-traditional, there is the opportunity to experience a collective that, while almost as exposed as a solo performance, delivers a considerably broader sonic palette. Between Borstlap's keyboards and Bruford's drums all the bases really are covered, with a sound that is complete and lacking in nothing. In Concert In Holland is the kind of performance that shows, like Every Step a Dance, just how far Bruford has come as an improvising musician. Lively and filled with the kind of intuition that is remarkable for a duo at such an early stage in its development, the DVD is essential viewing for anyone interested in watching two artists in an environment of pure risk without a safety net.
Visit Bill Bruford and Michiel Borstlap on the web.
Personnel: Bill Bruford: drums; Michiel Borstlap; keyboards.
Track Listing: Nijmegen: Prologue; Game of Chess; Conception; Cmailla; Two Left Shoes; Mister B.B.; Arabian Quest
Maastricht: Backstage footage; Happenstance; Peacock Strut; Sintar Klaas is Boos; 'Round Midnight.
