DJABE & STEVE HACKETT
The Journey Continues
2019 live set with Hungarian jazz rockers throws up new surprises.
Given the fun he’s had in recent years playing regular shows with Hungarian jazzers Djabe in Eastern Europe as well as fronting his own shows and Genesis Revisited tours, Steve Hackett must be feeling the absence of live gigs as keenly as anyone.
THEY’RE HAVING A RARE OLD TIME JAMMING NEW LIFE INTO THE SONGS.
But does the world need another live album from him?
Avid Hackett fans might wonder whether this 2019 live set performed in Djabe’s home country really is an essential purchase. After all, the album whose songs make up most of the setlist (2017’s Life Is A Journey – The Sardinia Tapes) was itself constructed from live improvisations, and 2018’s Life
Is A Journey – The Budapest Live Tapes contains performances of many of the same tracks.
One advantage of playing jazz rock, though, especially when improvisation is a key part of your act, is that no two shows are the same. So it proves on this 2019 performance. The bare bones of the songs may be fairly familiar, but you can tell they’re still having a rare old time jamming new life into them. While there are some tracks that might ease newcomers into Djabe’s world, such as the soothing, harmony-led Life Is A Journey and the softly yearning 2012 ballad Tears Of Peace, you can tell that Hackett and the band are happiest taking turns to steer the ship wherever they like.
They do just that on the freewheeling 17-minute jam of
Lava Lamp, while the lithe, bass-led fusion of Buzzy Island is a more energised skirmish. At first Ferenc Kovács’ trumpet flutters ecstatically over hyperactively slapped bass as keyboards hopscotch beneath, and Peter Kaszas provides an urgent percussive drive. Then Hackett steps up to add headspinning guitar figures – initial volleys are full of knotty jazz angles, and then later in the track he conjures up blazing Catherine wheels of rock shredding.
The overhauls of Genesis material are less free-form, but they add intriguing touches. A newly introduced rendition of Hairless Heart is elegantly reworked, with Ferenc Kovács’ trumpet playing the top-line melody, then they segue into the latter section of Firth Of Fifth before that classic is further embellished with some sublime guitar decoration from Hackett. Even without Tony Banks’ timeless tumbling piano figures bookending it, it’s still a breathtaking piece. Later, a brass heavy reading of Los Endos spirals into austere electronica before building up a warped, wearier reading of the reprise of Dance On A Volcano within that track, which then erupts into a thundering, anthemic big band crescendo.
Heard one live performance from Steve Hackett and Djabe? Don’t think you’ve heard them all.