REVIEW

BOWIE, BERLIN & BEYOND

DELTA SAXOPHONE QUARTET

DORCHESTER CORN EXCHANGE

FOUR men, of varying vintage and build, emerge into the darkness, all clad in black and armed with saxophones of varying sizes, and only the small glow of the spotlights illuminating their music stands breaking the gloom.

Some squeaking, coughing and rasping and the Delta Saxophone Quartet launch into a well-attended evening of minimalist music, inspired by such composers as Phillip Glass, Steve Reich and Michael Nyman and featuring some of David Bowie’s work from his Berlin period of the mid to late 1970s.

Chris Caldwell, Tim Holmes, Pete Wyman and Christian Forshaw, all consummate musicians and with CVs ranging from acclaimed orchestras, West End shows and international jazz festivals, offered up their take on pieces from Bowie’s Low album.

Speed of Life and Art Decade were followed by a powerful version of Warszawa, always a poignant track of overwhelming sadness, made even more so by a crushing sound loop of some dreadful pile-driving machine and, as Chris reminded us, was particularly apt for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

The affable Chris then apologised for cancelling last May’s scheduled concert in Dorchester because, as he candidly put it: “ We had a better offer and we all have mortgages.

“But thanks for waiting for us. You’re all our Heroes.”

As cheesy intros to songs go, that’s up there with the best and they then had the front to follow arguably Bowie’s most iconic masterpiece, a paean to doomed love in a divided city, with perhaps his nadir: The Laughing Gnome, a nursery rhyme in praise of talking garden ornaments.

After a short intermission, part two featured the Deltas standing beside a giant screen as they provided the sound track to a series of short films, most notably Albert Lamorisse’s award-winning The Red Balloon, from 1956.

Set in post-war Paris, the delightful sepia-toned film follows the adventures of a young boy with his new-found toy and the repetitive, rhythmic parps, grumbles, squawks and soaring melodies and harmonies of four saxophones perfectly complement the lad’s scrapes in the rubble of the French capital.

All in all, a challenging yet hugely enjoyable evening, well-received by an appreciative audience and kudos to Dorchester Arts for presenting such a unique experience.

NICK HORTON