Rob Hall
News / Reviews
New CD with Philipp van Endert Trio + Kenny Wheeler
Rob is featured on a new CD with the Philipp van Endert Trio and flugelhorn master Kenny Wheeler. The Trio is based in Germany and the recording was made in Cologne during early 2003. Features Philipp van Endert (guitar), Andre Nendza (acoustic bass) and Kurt Bilker (drums) with Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn) and Rob Hall (saxophone)
For more information go to the Recordings section.
Great Britain @NRW - Jazz Schmiede - Dusseldorf - Germany
Rob Hall + Philipp van Endert Trio
26. März 2003
Rheinische Post (English translation)
Keine Chance für Langeweile
No chance for boredom
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Philipp van Endert, the gifted guitarist from Dusseldorf, is beaming: finally he is able to invite the British Saxophonist Rob Hall, an ex-colleague at the Berklee jazz college, to a concert at the Schmiede, as part of the ' Great Britain @NRW' (Nord Rhein Westfalen) jazz festival. Andre Nendza on bass and Kurt Billker on drums complete the trio. There is a joyfulness in the pleasure of music making when these four guys play.
Rob Hall, who is half-German, lives in Scotland where he runs a music school in the centre of Glasgow. He plays clarinet, soprano, alto, and tenor sax, the latter since he founded his own ‚Freewheelers' in 2001. They recorded a Cd in January 2002 ‚Free-World Music. His melodic playing is a perfect fit for the Van-Endert-Trio.
Van Endert accommodates Hall, who frequently changes over from soprano to tenor sax, plays a number of unison heads with him, and accompanies with muted and rhythmic chords and hooks. In a few solos he extracts creative and inventive jazz sounds from his old Ibanez, and moves every now and then into rock mood. In his short speech in German, Hall adds: ‚Philipp rocks!'
The imposing Nendza is always fully in control of his bass. He has expression in every note in ‚Beautiful love'. In Hall's ghostlike ‚Firth of Fifth' his long intro sparkles with embellishments and glissandi. Hall's bluesy tenor emerges and van Endert produces ethereal and jarring sounds as if from ‚Hounds of Baskerville'. After that Nendza, again using the higher notes, drums away on his bass. Billker, who's individualistic drum solos are always pleasantly different, drums with his bare hands.
Hall and van Endert celebrate Hall's ‚Decisions' in a Duo. Other pieces include compositions by Bill Evans, Bret Willmott, Ornette Coleman, and van Endert. In ‚All the things you are', van Endert brings his playing to a peak in a wild solo. Endert rocks again in racy style in Coleman's ‚Turnaround' whilst Hall on soprano sax carries you off with his sounds. A very varied and entertaining concert.
SRDJAN KEKO
'Free-world Music'
Jazz Review magazine (Autumn 2002)
Freewheelers are a young Scottish group with Rob Hall (ss,ts), Chris Greive(tb), Mike Dunning (b) and Paul Mills (d). Although their opener, "There Will Never Be Another You", readily acknowledges a lineage going back to the instrumentation and techniques of the Gerry Mulligan piano-less quartet, don't expect any young-fogeyisms. "Freedom Jazz Dance" is anchored by a volcanic funk beat and the frontline can't seem to get their superb ideas out fast enough. "Joy Spring" has a delicious lilt and a beautiful solo from Greive, and there's also a version of John Scofield's "Softy" that knocks spots off the guitarist's own. Rob Hall's originals are also highly intelligent and ooze personality - one for Sholto Byrnes to stick in his pipe and smoke.
Philip Clark (Jazz Review)
ELEMENTS - Scotsman Review 7.6.2001
Elements - A Highland Canvas
Culloden Academy
Elements is one of the principal Highland Festival commissions this year, and
blended contemporary jazz with the visual arts in compelling fashion. The
project had its origins in an earlier, smaller scale collaboration between
saxophonist Rob Hall and painter James Hawkins, whose bright, highly
expressionistic Highland landscapes inspired Hall to write a suite of music.
The new elements added for this commission were a bigger jazz ensemble, and
the input of John McGeoch, a video animator who succeeded in bringing
Hawkins's vivid canvases to life on the large screen behind the musicians.
McGeoch manipulated the paintings in imaginative fashion, assembling and
deconstructing Hawkins's sensuous images, and intercutting the painted scenes
with video footage and, on one occasion, superimposed images of the musicians.
Hall, who alternated between soprano, alto and tenor saxophones
and clarinet throughout the programme, composed a series of vibrant, often
evocative pieces for the occasion. He has a gift for writing sinuous
melodies over attractive rhythmic grooves, fleshed out in turn with rich and
often intricate harmonies which kept the band on their toes throughout a
demanding performance.
It is always difficult on these occasions to know whether what we heard and
saw was precisely as intended. Hall seemed to cut off Chick Lyall on keyboards
at one point, and on another occasion a set of credits popped up on screen in
mid-sequence, but if there were teething problems they seemed to be of the minor
variety.
The suite contained eight pieces, two of which were short reprises of the
opening A Highland Canvas. Titles like Beinn Fada, Lochan na Speura and
Western Shores reflected the on-screen images in complementary fashion, but
the music was sufficiently strong and independent to suggest that it will
function equally well away from the images.
Kenny Mathieson
... and what the audience thought
Spectacular!
Since coming across Rhue Studio and buying "Dark Skies Over Braemore" about 12 years ago, we have loved James H's work.
How could you communicate what we get out of it, into the wider dimensions of movement, image-blending and music. But breath-takingly you did it.
Also we had suspected that the joy of the colour, texture and form was maybe too individually experienced. How could the 3 artists understand what we felt and express more of it for us?
But you did it. There was a warm emotional connection in that we obviously very much shared the appreciation of what is in James' work with James, John, Rob, co-artistes and dozens of fellow appreciators last night. Very exciting. Bought the CD. Saving up for more art.
We loved it Thank you!
Les and Heather
Fortrose
Last updated Summer 2003