Luke Judge

Le groupe Sixtease en concert à la salle des Brasseurs de Lutterbach était complété par Éric Theiler au bugle.

Le septet a fait revivre l’atmosphère de Lambert, Hendricks and Ross qui avaient adopté le « vocalese », système où la voix remplace les instruments aussi bien pour l’orchestration que pour les solos repris d’enregistrements célèbres.

Exprimé dans la manière Cool, alternant ballades et blues pendant deux heures, le répertoire comprenait les grands standards d’une des plus riches périodes du jazz joués avec un swing impeccable.

On a pu admirer plus particulièrement une jolie version de Summertime, Mr PC que John Coltrane a dédié à Paul Chambers, son bassiste emblématique et, surtout, le magnifique Jordu rendu célèbre par la vélocité et l’inspiration de Clifford Brown.

Il était intéressant de comparer les éblouissantes fulgurances de cet artiste à la sonorité presque sombre, aux phrases développées dans le registre moyen de l’instrument, à la retenue inspirée et au sens de l’improvisation d’Éric Theiller, qui développe son discours en de petites variations presque immobiles, d’un lyrisme contenu et soutenu.

Les chorus du pianiste Michel Lotz étaient lyriques et colorés, très techniques, la contrebasse de Michel Dreyfus chantait autant qu’elle rythmait, assise sur la trame d’une batterie efficace tenue par Martial Muller.

Parmi les vocalistes, on ne saurait lequel admirer le plus : Christophe Erard dans ses périlleux exercices de scat, Frédérich Heinrich plein d’aisance, l’énergique Maria Mrozkova ou, plus simplement, l’impressionnante technique du trio qui est venu à bout de la gymnastique qu’impose l’articulation des textes de Joe Henderson.

Deux ombres n’ont pas réussi à gâter le concert : une acoustique réfractaire aux sonorisations les plus savantes et un public clairsemé.

J.-C. O.

bugle heinrich, summertime

A Pringle Bay musician has discovered a way to turn the vuvuzela from a simple noise maker into a beautiful musical instrument, just by changing the way it is played.

Dr Bruce Copley said he had been thinking about vuvuzelas and ways to avoid the damage to hearing that can result from the loud noises they produce, when he discovered that changing the way the plastic trumpet is held and played can create beautiful music.

The vuvuzela has created some controversy before the World Cup as players and fans have complained about the loud, B-flat note they create.Continues Below ?

Copley, who plays several instruments and is known for his didgeridoo playing, has based his vuvuzela technique on the reed-blowing techniques that have been used by South African herdsmen for “hundreds of years”.

“It’s not really about what you do, but what not to do.

“Normally, you seal the mouth over the vuvuzela which results in that trumpet or bugle note, but if you don’t seal the mouth and you hold it as if you’re holding a pan flute, you get a lovely, windy note,” he said.

Copley has used a regular vuvuzela, and his technique requires no modifications to the instrument. “And everything is toned down, it drops the volume substantially.”

Copley is now on a mission to change the way people play vuvuzelas before the World Cup.

He’s working with a group of pupils from Muizenberg High School, teaching them to play music on the vuvuzela.

The technique is easy to master, he said, and can be picked up with just a few minutes of practice. “You’re creating music instead of white noise,” he said.

Copley said there were other ways of using the vuvuzela to create music.

Due to its shape, the vuvuzela is also a megaphone, which can amplify singing by two to three times the normal volume.

Whistling through the instrument also creates interesting sounds. “It creates a lovely airy sound in addition to the voice,” he said.

Copley has produced two YouTube videos detailing his technique.

They can be viewed by searching for the words “rainbow vuvuzela” on the website.

• This article was originally published on page 6 of Saturday Argus on May 22, 2010

bugle pan flute, world cup