Roots and New Dreams
Jazz Concert: Doug Hammond Tentett
(Linz09 Commissioned Piece; 25. 5.; Brucknerhaus)
(6 out of 6 stars)
The Cultural Capital honored one of its best musicians with a commissioned composition and an evening at Brucknerhaus. Drummer Doug Hammond came to Linz at the end of the ’80s to not only familiarize generations of Bruckner University students with contemporary drumming for more than 20 years, but above all to familiarize them with the poise and demeanor that characterize a jazz musician. Determination, honesty and elegance are essential virtues that one can learn from Doug Hammond.
He stood in the spotlight of an acclaimed evening as a composer. At first, the “Brückenköpfe Ensemble,” under the direction of Christoph Cech, performed Hammond’s “Black Forest Suite” from the 1980s. A quasi-chamber music-like gem which the young musicians, after minor problems at the outset, intoned sovereignly.
Afterwards, Hammond and his tentet played his “Roots and New Dreams” program, which was especially composed for Linz 09.
Doug Hammond Tentet Brucknerhaus, 25.05.2009
Splendid Horns
Compact, intelligently assembled pieces that utilize the multifaceted sound possibilities of the large band. Many dedications to colleagues like Ernie Calhoun or Kirk Lightsey, but also a wonderful ballad for his mother “Rose: Sister.” The horns were splendidly manned: Dwight Adams on the trumpet, Dick Griffin as the blubbering and blaring trombonist, Jean Toussaint as the elegant tenor saxophonist, and especially Wendell Harrison as an eloquent and lively clarinetist.
Bravo! What very great class!
Christoph Haunschmid, OÖ Nachrichten, May27,2009
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