Tony Haynes’ recent death at 83 is a loss on so many levels – a loss to family, friends and colleagues but also to the diverse musical communities of East London whom he served with such passion. Haynes’ achievements deserve a book rather than an obituary. For over forty years, he directed one of the longest-lasting, artist-led music companies in this country’s history. That this was in the field of jazz and world music rather than opera or classical music amplifies that achievement. If there were a formula for this feat of legerdemain, then Haynes invented it. Perhaps there will never be a book now but there is this remarkable concert film. If that career, of which Grand Union represented just the last forty or so years, could ever be summarised in 105 minutes, then this would be it.
A Grand Union Orchestra concert poses a distinct set of dilemmas for a reviewer, issues in some ways exacerbated when it comes to an in-concert film. How can the writer adequately convey the sheer, on-stage spectacle of a band comprising a twelve-piece horn section, six or more singers and a ten-piece rhythm section including kit drums, congas and tabla. And that does not include the cello, sitar, violin and Chines flute and harp? How can the reviewer communicate the joy and ecstasy and celebration of an orchestra where twenty-five nationalities and every continent are represented?
Telling readers that they will hear sounds from India and Bangla Desh, South and West Africa, the Caribbean and South America, China and big band jazz a-plenty can never explain just how seamlessly these musics are all integrated through the creative mind of leader, Tony Haynes. You have to listen and watch. This film is the next best thing to actually being present.
I am not the biggest fan of concert videos, jazz or any other music. All too often, there is just too little happening to sustain interest. I must make an exception here for Grand Union’s 40th Anniversary Film recorded at the Hackney Empire. The film-makers – Àkàndá Productions – have done a remarkable job here in communicating the magic of this orchestra on stage. Thirty minutes into the film, “Song of the Four Seasons” offers a perfect illustration of that magic and of what Grand Union are or were and why that matters. Beginning with Chinese harp, the folk melody morphs into big band jazz with Ruijun Hu on Chinese flute duelling with Australian Louise Elliott on flute before Gerry Hunt’s guitar solo punctuated by big band horn riffs. It is one of those moments of perfect transcendence.
Existing fans of the orchestra will welcome Jonathan André’s trickster performance of GUO perennial “Can’t Chain Up Me Mind” and the wonderful Lucy Rahman’s showpiece “The Mother, The River”, a mother’s prayer for the safety of her sons during Bangla Desh’s war of independence. But perhaps the most powerful section comes with “Collateral Damage” and its dramatisation of the impact of conflict on innocent individuals and communities. It climaxes with an outpouring of solos over Basie-like big band riffs from Chris Biscoe, Byron Wallen, Claude Deppa and Tony Kofi. The show closes as ever with “Raise the Banner”. Recorded in May 2022 at the Hackney Empire, the 40th Anniversary Film and its themes of war, displacement and imperialism acquire added resonance through more recent events in Ukraine, Gaza and the West Bank. Music might not have the capacity to halt the crimes of the powerful but it can put a human face on the victims.
As an accompaniment to the concert film, Àkàndá Productions release Song of Many Tongues, a 30 minute backstage documentary about the orchestra. Featuring interviews with a small (inevitably) cross-section of the company, it offers valuable insights into the orchestra’s ethos and what made it such a vital force. What comes across most clearly is that this was a company of friends, driven by what united them rather than those aspects that might otherwise have divided. That it was led by the remarkable energy and vision of Tony Haynes is true but it was given flesh by its members.
This film tells Grand Union’s forty-plus year story and tells that there was never anything else like it. The orchestra celebrated jazz and the musics of the world and those who make it. Spend these 105 minutes in their company and maybe you’ll realise that a better world is possible.
