(Jazz) piano, harmonica and accordion: three instruments with distinctive musical associations that don’t immediately suggest themselves as harmonious bedfellows in a chamber music format. How might such divergent instrumental “personalities” work together? Could their qualities converge to form a “new” jazz sound? How to maintain the distinctiveness of each timbre while also crafting an agreeably unified resonance? These may have been some of the questions running through the pianist-composer Gwilym Simcock’s mind as he considered his latest collaborative project with French accordionist Vincent Peirani and Dutch chromatic harmonica player Hermine Deurloo. The fruits of this intriguing collaboration were unveiled at King’s Place Hall One on 16 February. Simcock describes the performance at as “one of the most unique adventures” of his jazz career, and is confident that it is the first time that these particular instruments have been brought together in a trio format.
As Simcock revealed from the stage, the principal motivation for this endeavour was his delight in music’s capacity to bring together old friends (he has worked with Deurloo on numerous previous occasions) and new (this is the first time he and Peirani have joined forces). Through the agency of the exploratory musical instincts of all three, knotty musical questions about whether this would work must have easily resolved themselves – because it certainly did work.
Most of the evening’s music was composed specifically for the ensemble – and not just by Simcock. Four works by Peirani demonstrated the playful impulse at the heart of his own music-making. This playfulness was abundantly evident in the magnetic physicality of his playing: every sinew of his body was attuned to even the most delicate of rhythmic push-and-pulls. His frequent vocalisations intertwined with his instrument so subtly that the accordion bellows seemed to become his own lungs. At other times he drummed the accordion like a cajon, and extended the taps and beats to his own body. It was great fun to watch – sitting in between Simcock (so closely engaged with the keyboard) and Deurloo (poised and relatively still), Peirani’s corporeal liveliness glued the trio together visually.
Laying bare their respective classical training, Simcock and Peirani opened the show in tight unison with a fast-flowing Bachian melodic line for the tune “Atmospheric”, composed by Vincent. The work gradually unfurled into a rich musical canvas that saw Deurloo soaring over the punchy texture with a strident “vocal” line. Her background as a saxophonist was evident, informing her vibrato technique and sensitive attention to the rounding off of melodic lines. The obvious hazard in pairing a harmonica with an accordion is that the versatility of the latter risks drawing attention to the relative limitations of the former. But Deurloo’s agility on the instrument prevented such an issue. In the second work, “The Hijinks”, composed by Simcock for the group, the piano and accordion often respectfully stepped back from their furious dueting and intricate contrapuntalism to allow for a homophonic texture led by the harmonica.
A nostalgic poignancy characterised Simcock’s “More Than Those Words”, beginning with a woozy harmonica solo that piano and accordion slowly fleshed out with soft dissonances. The ending was a masterclass in musical tone-painting, evoking a twinkling starry night sky. Vincent’s composition “Air Song” (influenced by Indonesian gamelan) had touches of Reich’s minimalism at the start; indeed, Reich’s own appreciation of “music as a gradual process” seems to be shared by the group in their attention to motivic unfolding and evolving patterns.
The following two works “90 Minutos” (Simcock’s composition) and “Did You Say Rotenburg?” (by Peirani) were wonderfully elastic, and gave opportunities to appreciate how post-bop energy on the piano can be edgily enhanced by certain sonorities on the accordion. Simcock’s “Love at Every Sight“ (a homage to his young son) slowed the tempo of the evening once more: a passage of sustained accordion chords and delicious suspensions compelled the audience to close their eyes and acknowledge a period of exquisite stillness. After the contemplative “End of the Line” came “Antics”, a reworking of Simcock’s 2012 solo commission for the “Play Me, I’m Yours” outdoor pianos in the City of London Festival. The familiar “ner ner na ner ner” playground taunt was wittily chopped up, stretched and thrown around between the instruments – it was clear that the musicians relished this riotous finale to the evening. But we had one more treat in store, courtesy of the encore,“Salsa Fake“, composed by Peirani. It careered along, teasing us with its Latin-inflected (but not-quite salsa) rhythms – at one point Peirani toyed with launching into Bizet’s Habanera, greatly amusing the audience.
In short, this rare meeting of instruments was extremely gratifying and the concert was also very well attended. Here’s hoping there’s an album in the works …
