On a magnificent sunny July day on the shores of Lake Geneva, Natural Signs, the UK based world, jazz and celtic fusion band, arrived at Parc Vernex to take part in the 34th Montreux Jazz Festival. Artists at this year�s festival included The Keith Jarrett Trio, Michael Brecker/Pat Metheny, John Lewis, George Benson and even Deep Purple, so they found themselves in good company!!
They had been invited following review of their new CD �Tales of Contentment�, to take part in the OFF festival which takes place outside the main auditorium on a number of outdoor stages, idyllically set with the Alps and Lake Geneva as a backdrop. Fortunately, after a particularly bad start to the summer season over most of Northern Europe, the weather had taken a change of heart and cleared up at the beginning of the second week to reveal magnificent blue skies and sunshine. Following a problematic sound-check (is there any other kind?), when 2 extra keyboards had to be brought in due to apparent midi problems, they finally kicked off in the early evening as the sun was beginning to set over the lake.
The first number, Sophia�s Choice, taken from their album revealed their original style of fusion, combining an Eastern European folk style theme with an improvisation section followed by an Irish style reel, before returning to an energy driven main theme. The next piece was a high octane Ashe-Roy arrangement of the traditional tune Kid on the Mountain, leading into to a band composition Balkan Dance in a 9/8 rock feel.
By their response the audience was clearly gripped at this point, and the park began filling up with more listeners eager to hear more.The set continued with the swing-based composition Swing Shift, an absorbing 5/4 piece Damascus (both Brook compositions), the haunting celtic style flute/piano duet Tir Nan Og, before moving on to another traditional arrangement Peter O�Boirnes and the Mingus-style mellow blues composition Affinity penned by Bond.
At this stage the set came to a crescendo, with the audience obviously appreciating the mixture of styles and original material, particularly the celtic themes which seemed to strike a chord with the Swiss listeners. Fed by this reaction, the energy lifted once more as the band moved into the impressive show-piece It�s Hip to Trip, again from the album, based around another celtic style theme, moving into a rhythmically complex flute solo section, superbly executed by Ashe-Roy, and Jazz Waltz feel solos from the 2 keyboardists Bond and Corbet. The set then reached its climax with a band arrangement of Clint by John Abercrombie including a mesmerising drum solo from Brook, a Weather Report style arrangement of Lark in the Morning (trad.) and Scarce Tatties (trad.), at which point the audience seemed practically ready to launch into Irish dancing, before finishing off with a high speed Latin composition by David Benoit.
The audience was� hungry for more, but, as is often the case at these events time constraints restricted the band from doing a final encore. Ashe-Roy was in fine form, and soloing from the other musicians (Bond, Brook, Corbet & McCartney) was of the highest calibre throughout. In particular, the combination of two keyboards added another dimension to the band, and Bond�s exceptional accordion work made a refreshing contribution to the unique sound that the band has created.
Following the gig, the feedback has been very positive, with particular appreciation expressed for the originality of the material at an event where, even at this level, the same tunes are often heard year after year, and the band is expecting to be re-booked again next year when it aims to be playing other UK and European festivals.
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