Live Concert review of the Cinematic Orchestra

By Brandon Ginsburg

The early show at the Jazz Standard was the first of only four North American gigs for England's Cinematic Orchestra. Their modern musical interpretation was expressed through five sprawling pieces of meticulous interplay between a revolving door of contributors. A small, cramped stage faced a seated, sold out crowd who mostly enjoyed the beer and BBQ menu served by the Blue Smoke Grill located upstairs. The adeptly named Cinematic Orchestra delivered their sound with skill and endearing exuberance. Their individual stamp lies in their ability to sound like a movie soundtrack where the score is symbiotic to the plot. The music, sans a moving picture, created a thick imaginative world. The listener was forced to make his own associations. Nothing was spoon-fed. Unlike similar bands such as Explosions in the Sky, there was no forced "AHH" factor. The band challenged and pushed the audiences' own creative juices. Most of the pieces were slow as they inched up varying gradients. Despite the music's linear feel there were crescendos, tension and release, heart pounding drum solos, and guitar heroics, but they weren't forced. Only after they gave the audience an opportunity to create their own dreamscape did the band's slowly built tension culminate into a gratifying apex. The workhorses of the band were drummer Jim Flowers and bassist Phil France. Flowers kept great time through all the pieces and added flailing dramatics in his impressive solos that found him with an inadvertent lost drumstick on two occasions. France played flawless bass. Whatever the mood called for he anchored it with soulful skill. Creating the band's way-out sounds were Tom Chant on soprano and alto saxophone, Stuart McCallum on guitar, and Nick Ramm on piano. Bandleader and founder Jason Swinscoe added synth and sound effects while he oversaw the music's direction. On two songs Heidi Vogel lent her soulful vocals over an atmospheric background. The band played an hour's worth of challenging and inspired music before the audience had to clear out for the folks waiting to get in for the second set. Cinematic Orchestra's New York appearance coincided with the release of their latest live album Live at the Royal Albert Hall. They capped off their American stay with an appearance at the Coachella music and arts festival.