“Three cheers” for Simon Bainbridge’s “Counterpoints”

The world premiere of Simon Bainbridge’s 2015 work “Counterpoints” has received four star-rated reviews from The Guardian and The Telegraph.

The piece, for double bass and ensemble, received its premiere at the Milton Court Concert Hall as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival on Wednesday 18 November, by iconic jazz double bassist Eddie Gómez and Britten Sinfonia

Erica Jeal, of The Guardian, writes:

“Jazz-classical mash-ups can be the equivalent of bad fusion food, sticking two flavours together that add nothing to each other. Not so Simon Bainbridge’s new work, which makes the two worlds coalesce into something new to both.”

“Three cheers for a classical piece that seems to grow from jazz rather than merely to appropriate it.”

Click here to read the full review.

Writing in The Telegraph, Ivan Hewett describes “Counterpoints” as the “high-point” of the concert.

He writes:

“Gradually the piece acquired momentum, and an intriguing colour reminiscent of Gil Evans’s jazz scores but with a startling admixture of Baroque oboe.”

“For a moment, one felt these two musical worlds really could meet after all.”

Click here to read the full review.

Bainbridge has also written an article for The Guardian about composing the piece for Eddie Gomez and Britten Sinfonia.

He writes:

“When it comes to today’s great jazz double bassists, few rival the wonderful Eddie Gomez.”

“His is the glorious bassline I encountered on Embraceable You and the brilliant musicianship that inspired me, over 30 years later, to write a piece for double bass and orchestra.”

Click here to read the full article.

Commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia, the work’s solo part was written for Eddie Gomez and uses improvisation throughout.

Bainbridge writes that “various motives have been provided in the bass part, creating a particell which includes the most prominent orchestral elements of each section.”

“It is expected that the soloist will develop these ideas freely and in dialogue with the orchestral musicians.”

UYMP began publishing Bainbridge in 2015, with Psalm 23 and “Counterpoints” being his first works published by the company.

Winning the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in 1997 for his 1994 work Ad Ora Incerta, Bainbridge has gained an internationally reputation.

Click here to read Bainbridge’s full biography.

The EFG London Jazz Festival is the capital’s biggest city-wide festival and is acclaimed for showcasing worldwide talent.

“Widely acknowledged for delivering world-class artists and emerging stars, the Festival continues to take jazz to a massive audience, in one of UK's landmark music events.”