Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Live Performance Reviews
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - RIO Festival: Salle Gaveau and Zao
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedRIO Festival: Salle Gaveau and Zao

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
Syzygy View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: December 16 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 6998
Direct Link To This Post Topic: RIO Festival: Salle Gaveau and Zao
    Posted: April 19 2007 at 18:43

So, after a lengthy hiatus of more than 25 years, Rock in Opposition reared its head once again in a disused quarry in France. The complex was interesting, a kind of outdoor sports centre with concert hall and auberge, and it was the ideal size for an event like this. There was a brief opening ceremony featuring the organisers, including Roger Trigaux of Present who was the main force behind the festival, and then it was on with the music.

Salle Gaveau kicked things off. A Japanese band unfamiliar to most of the audience - their debut album was only released in February - their set was one of the highlights of the weekend. They're a mostly acoustic quintet that was formed by Natsuki Kido, guitarist with Bondage Fruit and mainstay of the Tokyo underground. The rest of the line up is double bass, piano, accordion and violin, and the music is chamber rock with a hefty dash of Argentinian tango; there's a similarity with Almaailman Vasarat or perhaps a less sombre Art Zoyd. The first piece seemed a little ragged round the edges, but then Natsuki switched from acoustic to electric guitar and things got tighter and more exciting. All the players excelled; violinist Naoki Kita lead from the front with great flamboyance; pianist Masaki Hayashi demonstrated a superb, jazz influenced technique; bassist Keisuki Torigoe produced a range of sounds by bowing, plucking and by using the body of the instrument as percussion; accordionist Yoshiaki Sato alternated between holding everything together and playing incredibly fluid melodies; and Natsuki unleashed all kinds of wizardry on his axe, including some frenetic Fripp-style cross picking on one especially manic piece. Having heard the album, which they pretty much played in its entirety, there was a fair amount of improvisation going on during their set. This is something which can undo many bands but Salle Gaveau have the chops to pull it off with aplomb - definitely a band to watch out for in future. At the subsequent press conference it emerged that the name came from the venue of the original Dada exhibition, that the band didn't feel the need for percussion and that, Natsuki aside, they weren't terribly familiar with progressive rock. They stuck around for the whole weekend and seemed to enjoy most of what they heard, though. The audience were extremely enthusiastic, and the festival got off to a flying start.

Then came Zao, featuring Zeuhl legends Fracois Cahen and Yoch'ko Seffer, founder members of Magma who quit in 1972 and released some fine Zao albums over the next few years (their debut is especially recommended). Cahen played grand piano on this occasion, while Seffer mostly played clarinet and soprano sax. The rhythm section was in the solid hands of bassist Gerard Prevost and drummer Francois Causse (sometime member of Pierre Moerlen's Gong, according to Aymeric Leroy). Unfortunately their vocalist, Cynthia Saint-Ville, had been hospitalised, so for most of the show they played as an instrumental quartet, using taped or sampled vocals on one piece. The music was solid but unremarkable jazz fusion with a hint of Zeuhl, well played but rather unmemorable. I suspect that things would have been better if their vocalist had been present, but in the event most of the performance fell a little flat. Seffer's playing occasionally recalled his Hungarian background, but this wasn't the right context for that style of music. Things picked up greatly at the end of the set when violinis Naoki Kita joined them for the last piece - totally unrehearsed - and if the results weren't exactly tight the presence of the extra musician on stage inspired the most exciting and dynamic playing of Zao's set.

All in all a good start to the festival, with much more to come. It was especially good to see the Japanese RIO scene represented by such a superb and more or less unknown group - hopefully next time we might get Le Silo or Koenjihyakkei.

'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom


Back to Top
Alucard View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: September 10 2004
Location: France
Status: Offline
Points: 3888
Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 23 2007 at 14:16
 
Thumbs%20Up 
couldn't have said it better myself...Wink 
 
PS the 'Zao' concert was slightly too laid-back for my taste with nevertheless a special mention for Prevost and Causse driving the machine forwards!
Tadpoles keep screaming in my ear
"Hey there! Rotter's Club!
Explain the meaning of this song and share it"

Back to Top
Syzygy View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: December 16 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 6998
Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 23 2007 at 18:25
More to follow shortly - Victor has sent me some excellent photos, and I've asked his permission to use them in my reviews.
'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'

Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom


Back to Top
Sean Trane View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator

Prog Folk

Joined: April 29 2004
Location: Heart of Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 19532
Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 24 2007 at 04:17
Sounds like funCryWink
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
Back to Top
artimid View Drop Down
Forum Newbie
Forum Newbie
Avatar

Joined: April 25 2007
Location: Greece
Status: Offline
Points: 11
Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 25 2007 at 13:18
Personally , I didn't like SALLE GAVEAU at all. Maybe only the first piece. I found them unpleasant and very very very show-off. Indeed, they are skilled musicians, but something seems to be missing: the feeling. They don't have their own world. They sound very much like Piazzolla ,but more aggressive with the addition of electric guitar (VERY bad idea including boring solos).

In conclusion, I prefer Piazzolla.


I enjoyed the show of ZAO although the vocals were missing (too bad). Seffer's playing was excellent. Cahen showed that he knows well how to play the piano. I didn't know their drummer but he was awsome, especially during his solo.

Nice performance. (Except when the violinist of Salle Gaveau got on the stage and the demonstration of technical skills started again)
Back to Top
Unbeliever View Drop Down
Forum Newbie
Forum Newbie
Avatar

Joined: March 08 2006
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 11
Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2007 at 06:04
The first night of the concert was a real eyeopener for me, coming from Australia, my previous live musical experiences were topped by Radiohead back a few years ago in highschool...

I found Salle Gaveau's set one of the highlights of the weekend.  Their tango twinged chamber rock to me took a new step in the direction started in the original RIO movement and reminded me of the 'historical' context of the festival as it begun. Their superb musicianship and improvisation was balanced well by creative compositions by Kido and Sato in a later piece. Sure, the flamboyant style of the violinist Naoki Kita may have been a bit over the top, but I don't think it drew anything away from their performance. Their concert left me feeling like I had experienced some truly progressive music.

Zao's performance was marred by several technical issues which only contributed to the feeling of a routine performance. Yochk'o Seffer had to return to his black and brass soprano sax when his larger instrument almost ruptured the audience's eardrums, and some feedback issues with the bass' amp didn't help. Aside from this, the old masters of Jazz Zeuhl played well as Syzygy reported. Half way through their set I still couldn't believe I was hearing Zeuhl played live! When Naoki Kita joined the band, I think the musicianship got notched up a bit with Yochk'o delivering plenty in reply to the theatrical style of the Salle Gaveau violinist, as was that drum solo that just didn't let up!

By the end of the night I think I'd bought maybe 20 albums and spent a sleepless night sweating over the possible purchases of the next day. Wink



Egbe Mi O Carry Me I Want To Die
Back to Top
The Hemulen View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: July 31 2004
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Points: 5964
Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 04 2007 at 13:34
Oh how I wish I could've been there! Pity about Zao's setbacks - I love what I've heard of their studio stuff.

As for Salle Gaveau, sounds like I'll definitely have to give them a go!
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.113 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.