[163.1] NEGOTIATING INNOVATION & TRADITION

How does tradition appropriate innovation, how does the new embrace the old? Different answers to those perpetual questions are available to UK concert goers on Thursday 5 June 2003. At the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, jazz guitarist John Scofield (whose work as a freewheeling post-bop instrumentalist has both led its field, and collabarated in the wake of everyone from Miles Davis to Mark-Antony Turnage) takes on techno, acid dance and Asian dub... such that they come up smelling of themselves, but in a distinctive jazz context. This gig is part of a tour in support of the ground-breaking album 'Uberjam'. The featured band is: John Scofield - guitar; Avi Bortnick - rhythm guitar, sampler, Adam Deitch - drums, and Andy Hess - bass.


Meanwhile, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, a fresh version of G. F. Handel's aural feast, 'Susanna', given by the Early Opera Company, is set in a modern courtroom, using CCTV and video. It is the story of a young woman's resilience in the face of bullying, sexual harassment and false allegations. Going on to Salisbury, Northampton and Cheltenham, the production cast includes
Susanna: Rachel Nicholls; Joachim: Andrew Radley; and Chelsias: Arwel Huw Morgan. The opera is directed by Netia Jones and conducted by Christian Curnyn.