Simon Phillips and Protocol II Delighted Every Jazz Fusion Gourmet at Cvetličarna (2013)

Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Ljubljana / Cvetličarna / Slovenia
Concert date: 01.11.2013
Attendance: 350
Ticket price: 25.00€ (advance) / 30,00€ (day of show)

Simon Phillips is that legendary, all-round drumming master, innovator and one-of-a-kind oddball on his instrument, who over his long and colorful career has worked with just about every musician who’s ‘worth something’ in their field, be it rock, jazz, pop, funk and so on. Mr. Phillips, who has also been the regular drummer of the cult American band Toto for the past twenty years, hops over genre barriers with ease thanks to his drumming technique, so it’s no surprise that he has worked with such diverse acts as Mike Oldfield, Judas Priest, Jeff Beck, The Who, Jon Anderson, Russ Ballard, Phil Manzanera, Mike Rutherford, Tears for Fears and Michael Schenker Group, to name just a few.

Lately Simon has decided to focus on a solo career too, since it’s been 14 years since he last put out a solo project, »Vantage Point«. But once he found himself alone in the studio, he quickly realized he feels far more comfortable in the company of a backing band where everyone plays an equal instrumental role. So he invited along the highly esteemed guitar virtuoso and longtime collaborator Andy Timmons (Danger Danger), bass wizard Ernest Tibbs and the staggeringly talented keyboardist Steve Weingart. The end result of this collaboration between masters of their instruments was Phillips’ new album »Protocol II« (2013), which is also the name of Simon’s backing band. It’s also the stylistic and spiritual successor to his first solo outing, »Protocol« from 1988. Simon wanted »Protocol II« to sound as ‘live’ and organic as possible, and with the help of the three aforementioned greats he pulled it off brilliantly, creating a modern jazz fusion album that’s bursting with improvisational variety and crazy solo ‘disconnects’, while gracefully keeping the fluidity and melodic side intact the whole time.

That’s exactly the form in which Simon, alongside Timmons, Weingart and Tibbs, presented himself at Ljubljana’s Cvetličarna, which was specially prepared for the occasion, as the promoter really outdid themselves this time. The band felt great even after their set, when they had time to hang out and take photos with fans. The venue was dotted with seats this time, which is a common sight at jazz fusion ‘sessions’, and one look at the crowd instantly revealed that quite a few ‘doctors of music’ were in the hall that night, which really was no surprise. The quartet of instrumental champions opened their show with three older creations, the standouts being »Protocol« from Phillips’ first, self-titled solo album and the witty »Stern Crazy«, which was dedicated to the legendary jazz guitarist Mike Stern.

This initial warm-up, during which we mostly reveled in the incredible improvisational variety, rhythmic fluidity and witty time-signature leaps, with plenty of funk and other influences finding their way into the jazz fusion, was followed by a live performance of the entire »Protocol II« album. What’s most interesting is how superbly all four musicians, with their quite different styles and influences, complement each other in creating that jazz-funk fusion magic. Tibbs’ subtle bass lines constantly complemented Timmons’ strikingly energetic guitar phrasing, while Weingart impressed above all with his remarkable versatility and knack for conjuring up infectious ambient curtains of sound.

Watching over all three of these masters, but never dominating, which was definitely a plus, was the presence of the universal Phillips, who put on a few breathtaking lessons in rhythmic gymnastics from behind his drum kit, with his many musical influences coming through the whole time. In various interviews Phillips has mentioned several times that when listening to music he never limits himself to genre divisions, but simply separates music into what’s good and interesting to him and what’s bad and boring to him. Simon’s band had us convinced already with »Wildfire«, the opening track from the new album, that the decision to play the album in its entirety was a very smart one.

Despite the considerable complexity of the individual compositions, Simon’s band, mostly thanks to the many melodic arrangements and subtle rhythmic nuances, is not too big a bite for those who aren’t traditional jazz fusion fans. There were even a few people in front of the stage who don’t usually go to this kind of gig, yet in the end every last one of them was thrilled. Between songs Simon often addressed the crowd and explained how the creative process went for individual tracks from the new album, spicing it all up with a bit of classic English humor. What’s especially interesting about Simon’s studio process is that he plays all his new compositional ideas on keyboards first and only then on drums, even though he’s always rather modest about his own keyboard skills.

Mr. Phillips also mentioned that, as far as he’s concerned, he’s never been a big fan of live solo spots, so his solo moment that night wasn’t actually the classic drum solo most people expected. Instead he shared a wild improvisational merry-go-round with Weingart, who, together with Timmons, also stepped up to the mic a few times to reveal his approach and vision in shaping the new material. There were performances of extremely varied and complex tracks like »Gemini«, in the middle of which you could hear so many different improvisational disconnects, perhaps closest to what the legendary British fusionists led by Colosseum II used to do, where electric guitar always played a hugely important role, and not so much the American jazz fusion scene, although you could tell that Weingart has listened to plenty of Herbie Hancock in the past. Just before the end of the show Simon also took some time for questions from the audience, so the homey atmosphere, which was most welcome and is rarely experienced at most of today’s concerts, stayed with us throughout.

The legendary English drummer and his three American sidekicks, all virtuosos to be envied, wowed us first and foremost with incredible energy, stunning eclecticism and tight onstage chemistry, but above all with a big-heartedness that, sadly, is all too often missing among today’s younger technical know-it-alls. Most of the audience came to this gig primarily to admire Simon’s drumming artistry, almost completely forgetting that he’d be sharing the stage with three other musical masters. But when all three members of Phillips’ backing band earned the same ovations as the drumming grandmaster at the end of the show, it was crystal clear to everyone that it would be downright unfair to single anyone out. The whole band conjured up truly unforgettable magic that night in an incredibly positive atmosphere, which, after their farewell from the stage, sadly ended far too soon for most people’s liking.

Setlist

1. Protocol
2. Stern Crazy
3. Out Of The Blue
4. Wildfire
5. Soothsayer
6. Gemini
7. Moments Of Fortune
8. Upside In Downside Up
9. First Orbit
10. Octopia
11. Enigma
—encore—
12. Kumi Na Moja
13. Midair Decision
14. Indian Summer

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