Review by Ginevra House

Tim Kliphuis Trio

On Tuesday 19 March, we were treated to a stunning acoustic performance interweaving gypsy jazz,

classical and folk melodies by the trio of the brilliant violinist and composer Tim Kliphuis at Gairloch

Community Hall, organised last-minute by West Coast Arts thanks to a cancelled tour date.

Starting with the feel-good gypsy jazz numbers Honeysuckle Rose and Django, a jazz-oriented riff on

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 followed, providing a bridge into the classical inspiration for this

gig’s main feature: a set of compositions inspired by Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, recently

released as an album.

The first two performed – Baba Yaga and The Old Castle – were based closely on Mussorgsky’s

music, reimagined with a gypsy jazz edge. The first half closed with a rollicking medley, Hoedown

for the Common Man, careening through Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Hoedown, a

delicate rendition of Danny Boy and She Moves Through the Fair, with another flourish of Hoedown

to finish.

Opening with another classic, I Surrender Dear, featuring a delicately subtle, virtuosic solo from

guitarist Nigel Clark, the second half treated us to some of Kliphuis’s original compositions. The

‘Water’ movement from Five Elements – a COVID lockdown project recorded individually in the

artists’ own homes – flowed between minimalism and jazz with delicate, rippling, rolling waves of

sound. Gnomus, another of Mussorgsky’s compositions, was reimagined with a lilting habanera feel,

followed by two original compositions inspired by pictures of other artists: Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ritz

Tower and Hokusai’s Great Wave. The former was a richly complex, edgy composition; the latter a

slow-burn build-up to the breaking tsunami depicted by the Japanese master, showcasing the vibrant

sounds of bassist Roy Percy.

A spellbinding, tender reimagining of Richard Strauss’s Morgen was the encore, an entrancing end to

a fantastic evening of creative virtuosity.