Gig Review - Uri Caine at the Vortex 18th Jan 07'

I hope Uri will forgive me this analogy, but on Kingsland Road a stones throw from the Vortex there is a Chinese restaurant called Shanghai. Chinese restaurants abound in London but this place serves the best Dim Sum I have ever tasted, the steamed pastry filled pockets of delight present themselves like actual sea creatures, delicate, huddled together in the steaming basket, resting on a film of rice paper - the taste buds squirt in quasi-erotic excitement - well that's how my ears felt waiting for the great Uri Caine's hands to touch those keys on Friday night.

Caine did not disappoint, every note had flavour, texture, colour, wit and grace - a master chef of the keyboard is Uri. Eclectic is a word much maligned in any discussion of contemporary jazz but Uri Caine's mind is a musical map of a world that incorporates Fats Waller, Ellington and Gustav Mahler in an interchangeable topography.

Caine’s interpretation of Monk's ‘Round Midnight’ was one of the best renditions either I or Kevin had heard to date - incorporating a Don Pullen-esque series of punctuated rhythms developing into rich harmonic and melodic rendition of this classic theme that would have pleased Thelonius himself.
From standards like Honey Suckle Rose to Mahler's 3rd Symphony the stops on this particular journey where both emotionally fulfilling and testing in the best sense. The venue was packed and the atmosphere was sparkling. After the gig I got the great man to add to my pension fund in the form of his signature on a prized copy of ‘Shelf-Life’ and he seemed to have enjoyed the performance almost, but not completely I’m sure, as much as the audience did.

A joy