Gigs
Clarvis/Noble Duo
the finale of this cross-genre festival is this duo who create a sound bigger than the sum of its parts. paul has a preference to using lower case and this preview is the same. liam and paul first met playing and touring in moondog’s band on the streets of new york…collaborating in many joint projects over the years. for this special gig they play two sets, each containing an extended piece based upon a single artistic event. one will be the whole of ‘west side story’ sound track, played in the duo’s usual twisted and modified logical musical narrative a duo project playing music from west side story combines well-known material with a “stream of consciousness” improvisatory angle. liam noble is in this day age of jazz retreads, it’s refreshing to encounter a genuinely original voice. paul clarvis is a very talented percussionist, clarvis displays remarkable technical gifts, which he allies to enthusiasm and flair.
liam noble, after studying music at the university of oxford and the postgraduate course at guildhall school of music and dram, noble became the regular pianist with stan sulzmann. he went on to work in the bands of anita wardell, harry beckett, tim whitehead and john stevens as well as recording and touring with cult minimalist composer moondog. his career included in april 2002, a commission from birmingham jazz resulted in a song cycle based on japanese death poetry. noble plays piano/keyboards and samples throughout.
paul clarvis is the original enfield sound started playing drums at school…has collaborated with some of the world’s best composers and performers from birtwistle to stevie wonder and mick jagger…combined with a professorship of drum set, latin american & ethic percussion at the royal academy of music…he was the late leonard bernstein’s preferred percussionist in london…paul also helped rick smith with the drum arrangement for the london olympic 2012 opening & now the regular percussion player in the bbc strictly come dancing show. as one of the most requested session musicians, his playing can be heard on hundreds of films…moreover, the list of collaborators he has worked with is a veritable ‘who’s who’ in the music world — from mick jagger, nina simone, stevie wonder, steve swallow, harrison birtwistle, sir john dankworth to paul mccartney, john taylor and moondog…
a very talented percussionist, clarvis displays remarkable technical gifts, which he allies to enthusiasm and flair. his declared favourite musicians include several artists from the long tradition of jazz drummers although he himself is thoroughly contemporary in feel and style. this awareness of the past helps bring depth to clarvis’ jazz playing.
Line Up: Liam Noble – piano/keyboard & Paul Clarvis – drums and percussion
the best known lower case writer was e e cummings, these are his thoughts:
“it takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ― e. e. cummings
“we do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” ― e. e. cummings
“listen: there’s a hell of a good universe next door; let’s go” ― e. e. cummings