The jazz singer mixing in soul, blues, and a folk flavor was getting stronger as the program continued. His nice blend of soft soul music and blues tinged with an Irish folk style was pleasantly enhanced by gentle drumming on various instruments and accompanied by a string quartet and keyboard. I was in a dark but classy room connected to a beautiful church and once again enjoying Wednesday jazz night. His voice was a little reedy with full range of notes and color in his sound. Covering the gamut of music, we heard a rich rendition of a spiritual, a folk song, a pop tune, even a chant-like blues tune. It was meaningful, personal music for all.
But as I listened, I began to be bothered by some sounds that were not quite right. Keep in mind that London is such an arts community and so populated that most public performances of anything are at a very high level. So when I began to hear problems in the group, I was a little taken aback. After a few minutes, I realized the string quartet was not playing in tune. The 2nd violin and the viola player seemed to be in conflict with each other. They were simply not in tune and it was annoying. A closer look at their faces and I thought I saw a high level of disinterest and a lack of joy in their demeanor. They seemed indifferent to the result and did not really want to be there.
I have often been told that my ear picks up subtleties that others do not hear and that I tend to listen overly critically when most people can enjoy music without having to analyze it. While there might be a little truth to this, I maintain that quality music performance is obvious to all in spite of a lack of formal music training. A group of players not playing in tune may not be specifically targeted by an untrained ear, but the annoying sound is certainly painful to all whether or not they are aware of the reason.
Concluding his first set and a break of 15 minutes, the singer returned but without the string quartet. He pleasantly, with a touch of regretful honesty, then told us that he would be performing several selections without the string quartet due to the expenses of having to pay them for the extra time. There were some awkward chuckles in the audience as he began to sing accompanied by a keyboard and a drummer. I did miss the string sound a little but the overall result was improved due to the accurate tuning.
After approximately 20 minutes, he announced that the string players would be returning (they had been in the back with their stopwatches) to play on the rest of the program. He again quipped about the cost of using string players. The added color and sound did temporarily lift the program for several minutes until once again they were out of tune. Not only were they expensive, obviously picky about pay, likely stuffy about literature (I do not know this but somehow suspect it), they simply were not that good.
String music and the string family of instruments are the expressive body of sounds in an orchestra. There is nothing more glorious than a great string player or a large group of strings playing rich, romantic music such as Brahms, Wagner, Strauss, or Mahler. A string quartet can be a magical experience in music as a stand alone ensemble or accompanying virtually any event. And because musicians have a unique skill born of a mixture of talent and bruising hard work that equals thousands of hours in a practice room, they deserve respect and tangible rewards for their efforts.
At the same time, musicians and some string players in particular need to address the possibility that in some cases their demands are short-circuiting their own careers. Maybe next time the jazz singer will choose electronic sounds or maybe no strings at all to avoid the additional expenses, the difficult scheduling, and out of tune playing.
But I have disparaged the poor players enough, for in the end I did enjoy my jazz night experience and am happy to hear the ideal combination of strings, percussion, keyboard, and a jazz singer in concert. Would I go again? In a heartbeat!
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