Alex Hitchcock - Dream Band - Live in London (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Concert recordings have long been important in the history of jazz because they often capture something previously unheard. The stage can conjure an energy that is not found in the most adequate of studios. An audience, with its focus and engagement, is part of the performance, especially if it is positioned at close quarters to the players.

Alex Hitchcock’s Dream Band: Live in London is a document of three concerts at London’s Vortex club that broke down barriers. The packed house became intimately small.

I attended the final night of the run and was immediately struck by the layout of the ensemble. Usually, the musicians would be stationed at the back of the venue in front of rows of seats reaching the bar. But the players were almost in the round, standing in a semi-circle that span out from the wall, so that the punters were practically next to them, training eyes on each gesture as well as locking ears into sounds that were composed and improvised. Hitchcock’s 2021 CD Dream Band would have drawn many to the gigs but if that release earned the British saxophonist good press then he upped the ante on stage. The set had both depth of ambition and strength of execution.

TRACKLIST

1. Alex Hitchcock - Abaqua (Live)
2. Alex Hitchcock - Verglas (Live)
3. Alex Hitchcock - Oblique (Live)
4. Alex Hitchcock - Cakeism (Intro) (Live)
5. Alex Hitchcock - Cakeism (Live)
6. Alex Hitchcock - Cakeism (Live)
7. Alex Hitchcock - Momentum (Live)
8. Alex Hitchcock - Grace (Intro) (Live)
9. Alex Hitchcock - Grace, Pt. 1 (Live)
10. Alex Hitchcock - Grace, Pt. 2 (Live)
11. Alex Hitchcock - Cat Circles (Live)
12. Alex Hitchcock - Red (Intro) (Live)
13. Alex Hitchcock - Red (Live)
14. Alex Hitchcock - North Field (Live) (Bonus Track)
15. Alex Hitchcock - Rio (Live)
16. Alex Hitchcock - Brocken (Intro) (Live)
17. Alex Hitchcock - Brocken (Live)
18. Alex Hitchcock - Lift (Live)
19. Alex Hitchcock - Sach (Live)
20. Alex Hitchcock - Differentials (Live) (Bonus Track)



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