REVIEW:

Tony Kofi

The last time I saw Tony Kofi was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank where he was playing the whole of Thelonious Monk’s works with the Monk Liberation Front but, though Kofi is a great interpreter of Monk’s music, this was not a very liberating experience. The number of pieces to be played in one evening and the size of the hall left little room for individual extension or self-expression. In the more intimate environment of the Spin, on the other hand, with a highly responsive trio and no musical target to hit Kofi was able to take control of the proceedings and give himself and the rest of the band room to spread.

Technically the saxophone has a relatively small range which can be extended and enriched with the use of harmonics and overtones, an area of the instrument richly explored by players in free improvisation. Without taking his music beyond the realms of the conventional Kofi nevertheless makes good use of this potential in order to give himself both a greater range and a greater diversity of tone. In this way he is able to turn a well-known waltz-time bebop piece such as Bluesette into something much broader by beginning with a raw-edged extended introduction before dropping into the familiar melody with a sudden soft sweet tone. In the same way he took his solo in the ballad Old Folks into unexpected territory by the use of high harmonics and beautifully controlled split notes. These sudden and colourful changes of tone and mood where vibrantly assisted by the Spin trio which, alongside Pete Oxley on guitar and Raf Mizraki on bass, included the wonderful Winston Clifford on drums who, as a member of Kofi’s other bands, was able to sense instinctively a change in the solo line and respond accordingly. Clifford also played two characteristically individual solos, one in Bluesette using little more than delicate cymbal touches to reflect the lilting mood of the tune. Similarly Pete Oxley played some fine well-formed solos particularly in the ballads where his guitar lines contrasted well with Kofi’s more forceful manner. Altogether another evening of quality music from the Spin musicians and a rightly acclaimed guest soloist.

© Paul Medley