Live Review: The Cloggz at The Under Ground Theatre, Eastbourne
The Cloggz
The Under Ground Theatre, Eastbourne
Saturday 30th September, 2017
The Cloggz combine the technical virtuosity of their jazz backgrounds with a myriad of influences with the end result being a mixture of jazz, tango, film music and other genres. The common theme in their performances is simply choosing a set of great tunes, from brilliantly-written film music to expertly-written originals, many of them co-compositions, all arranged in a unique way.
Some of the most engaging pieces were a pair of originals by Mark Edwards dedicated to diarist Etty Hillesum, composed as part of a larger suite that Mark has arranged for string quintet, piano, guitar and percussion which will be performed at The Under Ground Theatre on Sunday 12th November.
There were also classic Cloggz tunes such as Baby Elephant and A Rain of Stars, as well as beautiful arrangements of Radiohead’s Weird Fishes and Brad Mehldau’s When It Rains and Ode, together with the intriguing, lilting tangoesque tune Yma, dedicated to Peruvian singer Yma Sumac.
Memorable tunes included film music such as Hushabye Mountain (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) with some beautiful vocal lines sung by Imogen Ryall, and the theme from Schindler’s List featuring talented violinist Richard Jones.
Charlie Anderson