In the Colour of Sound, pianist Zoe Rahman celebrates the joy of music and life.
It might seem self-indulgent for a jazz musician to play only their own music in a concert, but this performance was far from it. Every track on Zoe Rahman’s new Colour of Sound album was recreated on stage, but the spotlight was clearly on every musician. Zoe Rahman is a generous composer, in the process of expanding from her regular trio {Rahman on piano, Alec Dankworth on double bass and Gene Calderazzo on drums) to an octet, she has found a way to celebrate every instrument. The piano was central, but it was there to support and enhance a variety of musical instruments and styles.
Zoe Rahman has played at the Howard Assembly Room many times before, often with Courtney Pine, but this was her first opportunity to concentrate exclusively on her own work. Two older compositions were also included – Maya and Red Squirrel. Initially written for a trio, they were expanded to include everyone. The arrangements showed her ability to write for a range of line ups, sometimes starting with a duo or trio, but always building to include the complete octet.
The concert began with Dance of Time, featuring Rolland Sutherland on flute. An instrument which is often neglected in jazz music, he ably demonstrated the flute’s ability to drive rhythm when given opportunity. Like Zoe Rahman, he is classically trained. Both musicians show flexibility and depth in their playing through familiarity with different genres.
Rosie Turton’s trombone playing opened the South African-influenced Sweet Jasmine, soon joined by Mark Armstrong on trumpet. Helena Kay, on alto saxophone and clarinet, has toured with the band. On the album clarinet, alto sax and tenor sax are all played by Zoe Rahman’s talented brother Idris Rahman, dubbing providing possibilities not available in a live production. Helena Kay is an exceptional musician who has been consistently winning awards since 2015.
I had been looking forward to seeing the synergy between brother and sister on stage, but I was not disappointed to find that Idris Rahman had been replaced by Tori Freestone, now based in London, who used to teach at Leeds Conservatoire. Zoe Rahman welcomed Tori with relish, and some of Tori’s ex-students who were in the audience.
Zoe Rahman’s compositions show the connection between her everyday life and her music. Little Ones was dedicated to her children, Sweet Jasmine to her daughter, Maya to her niece and Peace Garden to a garden project she had been involved with at her children’s school. The last was played at the end of the first set, a joyful but mellow piece, in which Rahman seems to massage the piano keys. It gave the audience a sense of contentment, while they awaited the second set.
Probably the most complex composition of the night was Unity, the final track played from Colour of Sound. The piece draws on a range of cultural influences, frequently changes direction, but never seems disjointed. In other venues on this tour, Zoe Rahman has played one of her own compositions as an encore. Explaining that the trio had the previous day returned from playing the Akbank Sanat Jazz Festival in Istanbul, she felt inspired to play something Eastern, so the audience was treated to a section of Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite.
This was a many-hued performance. Zoe Rahman has gathered together exceptional musicians and provided them with compositions that enable them all to shine. The great acoustics of Howard Assembly Room gave the audience the opportunity to luxuriate in The Colour of Sound.
Photography by Lewis Hart.
