From left: Rob Statham, Tim Whitehead, Geoff Castle, Mark Wood, Rob Statham, Tim Whitehead, Marc Parnell,
Chris Batchelor, Ian Carr
Photos 1-5: R. Farbey; 6: G. Foster
Nucleus Revisited, with a line-up especially recruited for two tribute gigs to British modern jazz rock legend Ian Carr, played with astounding confidence and competence. Led by
the redoubtable Geoff Castle longest serving Nucleus member, aside from Carr himself who is too frail to perform in public now, the sextet kicked off with a suitably slinky version of 'Midnight Oil' and then
moved on to the somewhat quirkier 'Mutatis Mutandis'. This was followed by Carr's 'Out of the Long Dark' the title track of his 1979 album recorded for Capitol Records and as someone in the audience shouted out, also the title of the biography of Ian Carr. Next was a great version of the riff-rich
'Something for Mr Jelly Lord', one of the pieces composed by Carr which was commissioned as part of a suite entitled 'Conversations with the Blues' and which made its recorded debut on the Mood Records album 'Live at the Theaterhaus'.
Geoff Castle then introduced one of the more well-known of Carr's works, the title track from the album 'Roots' which as Castle pointed out, had been sampled quite a lot in recent years. The beautifully haunting 'Lady Bountiful' (in 5/4 time
as Geoff Castle reminded the audience) benefited from a lengthy acoustic piano solo by Castle which drew rapt attention and suitably appreciative applause. The only non-Carr piece was Geoff Castle's 'Solar Wind' taken again from the Nucleus album
'Out of the Long Dark' which featured Castle's newly acquired 'Little Phatty' analog synthesizer (a Bob Moog tribute edition synth purchased a month ago because Castle's original Moog synth broke down) and a truly inspired, coruscating guitar solo by Mark Wood. The lovely 'Things Past' from Carr's album 'Old Heartland' was up next
with the fantastic repeated horn line, oddly clipped in a manner not a million miles from 'Milestones' (pun intended).
Ian Carr himself by this point was so inspired by the band that he took to the side of the stage to make a brief announcement of gratitude for such a great concert.
The gig ended with the subtle yet paradoxically enlivening 'Awakening', complete with yet another superb Moog solo from Castle and as aptly named as any of Carr's tunes. Throughout the performance, Rob Statham's fat Fender fretless bass kept the pace and often the riffs going ably assisted by Theo Travis'
drummer Marc Parnell who was playing, to use one of Miles' favourite similes, when describing Tony Williams' drumming, like a mother******!
Tim Whitehead, an old Nucleus alumnus, was in fine form on both soprano and tenor saxes, giving it his all and clearly enjoying this rare occasion. Marc Wood was simply magnificent proving himself to be one of the truly
greatest guitarists around but who is regrettably very rarely seen on stage. Chris Batchelor was there again on trumpet, recalling his earlier first appearance with the band when in August 2005, he so bravely stepped in for Ian Carr at the now legendary Nucleus gig at London's Cargo. This time Batchelor played even more superlatively and was
clearly more relaxed than eighteen months earlier. Finally, Geoff Castle who made introductions to each composition, and had made it clear from the off that this concert was entirely devoted to Ian Carr, led the band with typical aplomb. Confident, assured, his playing just gets better and better.
This was one of the greatest Nucleus
gigs in all of its sporadic thirty five year-plus history. The band obviously enjoyed it, the audience clearly enjoyed it - ecstatically - and Ian Carr definitely enjoyed it. As Jon Newey, editor of Jazzwise, said in his introduction to this Jazzwise Magazine 10th anniversary celebratory evening, Ian Carr along with Soft Machine was pivotal
in pioneering British jazz rock in the late 60s and early 70s. Here's hoping we see them perform again sometime in the near future, because, as purveyors of Carr's superbly complex yet memorable jazz compositions, these musicians demonstrate that Nucleus is much more than merely the sum of its parts and that even without their founder and
mentor at the helm, they are, nearly 40 years later, still alive and kicking ass and proving they were and still are the greatest.
Set list:
Midnight Oil
Mutatis Mutandis
Out of the Long Dark
Something for Mr Jelly Lord
Roots
Lady Bountiful
Solar Wind
Things Past
Awakening
As part of the week long 'Jazzwise to the Power of 10' celebratory concerts at London's Pizza Express Jazz Club, marking the tenth anniversary of this august jazz magazine, Friday's
gig featured Nucleus Revisited with a stellar line-up. The evening however kicked off with a trio led by guitarist David Okumu, ably assisted by bassist Tom Herbert
and drummer Tom Skinner, who like Okumu are also part of Jade Fox and other incarnations of the excellent F-IRE collective. Although introduced as the David Okumu Trio, he modestly
referred to them as 'Okumu, Skinner and Herbert' or 'OSH' as it is easier to remember. Okumu also revealed to the audience that this set was dedicated to Ian Carr whose Saturday jazz rehearsal classes were where Okumu, Skinner and Herbert originally met. OSH began quietly, ruminatively, but picked up pace about half way through their fine set. 
