Photo by Pino Ninfa |
Two days ago I attended a performance at The Bulls Head in Barnes given by Stan Tracey to celebrated his 86th birthday. There was absolutely no sense of it being a “noble effort for a man of that age” it was a performance by a man still completely in charge of his considerable creative powers.
Stan Tracey has been the pivotal figure in British modern jazz for 6 decades. His dedication to making music and his total refusal to compromise his creativity in any way has been an inspiration to generations of musicians.
Last New Year he was here in Italy performing at The Umbria Winter Jazz Festival in Orvieto and then again in the Summer sharing a stage with Herbie Hancock. But whether playing to large venues or a small British pub for Stan it is just another chance to create music. Which he does with own unique blending of harmony and rhythmic line that is impossible to hear for more than 3 seconds without recognising it as his. It may have influences of Monk and Ellington but you would never mistake it for either.
Archie Shepp in Vicenza |
Stan Tracey in Italy |
After my student days I rarely listened to jazz until by chance I went to a concert in Kendal, Cumbria where Stan was performing with John Surman.
I have always felt his playing to be sculptural and that he uses space in a similar way to a sculptor. Space in sculpture can become an entity itself when defined by the weight of the forms around it. Stan creates solid phrases of structured sound that weave in, out and around solid spaces.
Photo by Pino Ninfa |
Stan is an inspiration to all creative artists, by his own admission he is a hermit, he hides away between gigs and shuns social events (though he did come out of hiding to receive both his O.B.E and his C.B.E}. He doesn’t take work as a pianist in other musicians' bands, he doesn't write or perform in advertising jingles. He has his own vision of music which he has dedicated a whole life to perfecting, without deviation.
In the words of pianist Keith Tippet “Stan Tracey is the Master”.
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