Baroque gets all jazzed up

Ivan Hewett in the Telegraph on our Monteverdi concert with Julian Joseph: 'Time was when the performance of Baroque music was all about "getting it right", but fortunately those days have passed. The "early music" world has woken up to the fact that improvisation and risk-taking are what really bring this music to life. That's also true of many other traditions, and it was only a matter of time before someone tried to mingle the Baroque form of improvisation with another...... In these cross-cultural enterprises one side always calls the shots, and here it was definitely Monteverdi's ravishing sound-world, with its strummed lutes and dancing violins and high sopranos trilling and sighing in ectasy or agony...... It was when the jazz players felt able to ignore their 'charts' and rely on gut instinct that things caught fire. Joseph's harmonic side-shifts and cadences took on his usual energising swing, but also a Monteverdian "sigh" that seemed completely natural. The choir, too, loosened up; in one number there was a flamenco-ish tang at the end of a phrase, which Joseph was able to seize and run with. The final Salve Regina worked best, especially at its final flourish, where Joseph and [bassist] Hodgson spun a superb riff over the concluding cadence. For a work in progress, this was impressive. Let's hope it's only the beginning.'