Herak/Bulaktin Quartet Featuring Paul Towndrow – Traverse Theatre
I’m not especially familiar with jazz, and if I’d heard this music on the radio, I wouldn’t have got it. It turns out that jazz makes more sense when you experience a live performance, and my ears begin to tune in to its language. It reminds me of the first time I saw Shakespeare performed.
The gathering feels cosy, in the informal setting of the Traverse bar. I am struck by the intense concentration of each musician when the others are playing. This is a conversation, where each participant must focus so they can respond to the others’ cues. Listening is everything.
The composers, Miro Herak and Daniel Bulaktin, draw on their Slavic heritage as well as classical traditions. The opening number, Herak’s Slavic Dance, is rousing, and is followed by Ellie, a thoughtfully melodic pie...