JOIN USIt was a delightful evening of jazz and Welsh folk music at BFlat recently, when ‘Burum’, a unique jazz quintet from Wales and the UK, took the stage.
Modern in their sound but rooted in their style, the originally six-member band gave the audience a night to remember.
The five members on the India tour included Tomos Williams on trumpet, Ceri Rhys Matthews on bagpipes and wooden flute, Dave Jones on piano, Aidan Thorne on bass and Mark O’Connor on drums. What was unique was that despite the tunes being picked up from Welsh folk traditions, the band’s repertoire merely drew inspiration from it while adding their own interpretations and improvisations to it.
At the gig too, the music was mostly improvised, which the band seemed to enjoy thoroughly. They were also seen smiling among themselves. The set list comprised of mostly Welsh compositions, including ‘Ar Ben Waun Tredegar’ and ‘Hiraeth am Feirion’.
Being a jazz band, the saxophone was missed quite a bit, but the band informed that this gap was because their saxophonist Daniel Williams was unable to make the tour. Still, the Welsh bagpipes and wooden flute created an enchanting soundscape while the trumpet and bass had minds of their own. The drummer too deserves a mention keeping exceptional timing as is necessary in jazz.
“It was very interesting to check out ‘Burum’ and I hope that the venue calls more such bands in the future. What I enjoyed was how tight they sounded even without the saxophone, which I missed initially but forgot about by the end. The way they interacted amongst each other reflected their years of experience. I’m glad I came for the show,” said Ashwin, who attended the concert.
Roopa, another audience member, said that she enjoyed the trumpet the most. “I loved the ease with which the trumpet was played. In fact, all the instruments were played with seemingly no effort. And the flute often had an Indian vibe to it, making it world music for me more than jazz,” she shared.
The band too enjoyed performing and appreciated the fact that Bangalore crowd knew their music well. “We’ve played three gigs already in Mumbai and New Delhi and each one was very different. This was our first club gig in India and it was lovely. The sound was great and the audience was well-versed with jazz,” said Tomos Williams, who played the trumpet.