Sevenars Music Festival, The Academy, Worthington, MA
July 9-August 13, 2017
by Michael J. Moran
Even for this notably eclectic festival, the penultimate
concert of its 49th season must have pushed the musical boundaries about as far
as any other program in its first half-century.
Known as Clifton J. Noble in his day job as classical music
critic for the Springfield Republican newspaper, Jerry Noble is also a skilled
classical and jazz pianist and composer. In keeping with the family roots of
Sevenars (it was founded by Robert and Rolande Schrade and named after the
first letter of their names and those of their five children), Noble was joined
on stage by his wife, Kara Noble, on bass guitar, and by members of the Biswas
family from India.
But the concert opened with Noble accompanying Schrade
family cellist Christopher James (his late mother was Robelyn Schrade-James) in
Elgar’s own arrangement for cello and piano of his concerto for cello and
orchestra. Written just after World War I, its four movements have varied
tempos but reflect a predominantly elegiac mood. James gave a tight and focused
performance, with Noble’s eloquent keyboard enhancing the music’s poignancy and
power.
Noble then introduced Indian-born cellist, composer, and
educator Anup Biswas, who was joined by his son Satyajit on mridangam, an
Indian drum, and his daughter Geetanjali on vocals, in a mesmerizing rendition
of Indian writer and composer Rabindranath Tagore’s song “Anondo Loke” (Abode
of Joy). Along with Satyajit, Jerry, and Kara (everyone is on a first-name
basis at Sevenars), Anup followed that with a joyful account of his own
“Celebration,” from a longer ballet score.
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| Jerry Noble & Bob Sparkman |
In yet another total change of musical focus, Noble was
joined after intermission not only by Kara but by clarinetist Bob Sparkman in a
series of “duo and jazz trio improvisations.” The Jerry-Bob duo swung mightily
through a Fats Waller set, featuring a vivid “Jitterbug Waltz.” The trio romped
through five more selections, including a Latin-style version of Ellington’s
“Perdido,” before Anup and James, now on guitar, joined them for a rollicking
take on “Sweet Georgia Brown” to end this all-embracing show on a high note.
