Mike Nock in cabaret

Press, 19 March 1984, Page 8

Mike Nock in cabaret

Mike Nock at the Festival Cabaret, Town Hall Limes Room, March 16 and 17, from 9.30 p.m. Reviewed by

Philip Norman. With swift licks, fearsome riffs, polytonal clusters, and a pounding boogie bass or two, the Festival Cabaret went out in style during the week-end. The jazz pianistcomposer, Mike Nock, presided over the obsequies; his at times electrifying performance provided a fitting close to the fortnight of quality entertainment, lively atmosphere, and high-priced refreshments that comprised the Festival Cabaret

Oh Friday evening, in a sustained 70-minute burst of concentration, Mike Nock presented an amazing vari-

ety of material. This ranged from a far from basic 12bar blues, through swept-up versions of Pachelbel’s “Canon” and the traditional “Black is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair” to a totally recomposed, highly charged “Summertime,” fused for self-destruction at mid-point into an extended explosion of shattering, virtuosic sounds.

Only the opening and close of Mike Nock’s long set were disappointing. An unconvincing, roughly shod medley of moods and styles entitled “Hello Christchurch” made for an inauspicious start. By the close, the prolonged intensity and tautness of his playing had left one too weary to appreciate what

was possibly the finest composition of the evening, the gentle, impressionistic “Ondes;”

In all, though, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding performance by this distinguished New Zealand pianist. Hard on the heels of Mike Nock’s set on Friday evening was a brave — but far from foolhardy as it transpired — unscheduled appearance by two young Dunedin musicians, Trevor Coleman (piano) and Paul Hutchins (flute). Their short selection of three introspective compositions by Trevor Coleman was given with commendable emotional focus and technical precision.