Nu Civilisation Orchestra prove an eye-opener in Brighton

I was introduced to an unfamiliar genre of modern jazz, Saturday night, at the Nu Civilisation Orchestra's concert - Tomorrow's Warriors. Founded by Gary Crosby OBE, with Janine Irons MBE, CEO, it celebrated Joni Mitchell's songs. Now in her late 70s, Joni had another side to her folk singing: past influences that created the album named Hejira, and works by the composer Charles Mingus.

To open: the 14 strong band tunes up on the far left. To the right, three glamorous girls (one of them Crosby and Irons's daughter) provide backing vocals. In front of them are tenor sax, trumpet and trombone. Peter Edwards, slim, elegant and totally in charge, opens with a mellow tune that gets louder till we have the full jazz music that typifies the 1970s sounds: Charles Mingus, composer, and the song set Hejira - composed by none other than Joni Mitchel herself: "Chair in the Sky", "Amelia", to name a couple.

Yes, this is a Joni Mitchell themed concert, with the powerful and expressive voice of ESKA. Not that Eska emulates Mitchell's voice - she is her own person and puts her own stamp on the songs. Eska is her artist name, short for Eska mTumazi, an Ndebele name. Born in Zimbabwe, she came to England, age 2, but is still mindful of her heritage. Her powerful, expressive voice makes her perfect to represent Joni Mitchell. "Ultimately," she said, "you have to be yourself, and the part is vocally demanding". Eska has a long association with Tomorrow's Warriors so it was natural that, to her delight, she was chosen for this rôle. "I've been part of this family from my youth," she said.

"Hejira", an Arabic word for an epic journey, is the title of a collection of songs written by Mitchell herself during a series of road trips in 1975 and '76. They reflect events that occurred during those trips, including several romantic relationships she had at the time. Speaking to Director Peter Edwards after the show, I learned that in the mid-to-late seventies, Joni was experimenting and worked with many jazz musicians, including Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, to produce the Hejira album. Mitchell used jazz influences to open up her stories, such as: "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" -

"In a dark ageWhen the bandstands had a thousand waysOf refusing a black man admission."

Edwards conducted a 14-strong band that produced not only the 20th century jazz style that comprised this show, but special effects. They included wolf howls (The Wolf that lives in Lindsey), rushing wind, coconut crackles and all manner of strange effects - all expressed by band members. These were complemented by the haunting saxophone, trumpet and trombone performances, not to mention sparkling piano interludes. We heard a fair bit of double base too, that instrument much favoured by Mingus. Joni is known for her earlier folk period, but these two albums from the mid-70s had a more expansive form of story telling, using surreal jazz accompaniments to open up long narratives within the songs. ESKA's powerful and eloquent voice took Joni's approach with Hejira as a starting point to explore the themes.

The other featured album came from part-collaboration with composer Charles Mingus before he died. A challenge born of something he saw in Joni that piqued his interest. Mingus was American, of mixed Chinese, African and American heritage. Living only till age 56, he had developed a love for cello and double base, much enjoyed in this performance. Joni's collaboration with Mingus started with a couple of songs to work on, leading on to the likes of "God must be a Boogey Man". This became an audience participation song at the end, which the audience knew and sang along with.

I wasn't familiar with the Hejira and Mingus stories, so it would have been helpful if Eska, Peter or anyone from the orchestra, gave a little explanatory narrative between the sets. A trad. jazz veteran myself, I would have learned where the story was going, and listened with a more understanding ear. But It was an appreciative and knowledgable audience, clearly familiar with Mitchell's work, who responded with shouts, whistles and a standing ovation - so, while it was still new to me, it was an eye-opener and a pleasure. The Nu Civilisation Orchestra - Tomorrow's Warriors - continues its tour with Bristol on the 24th and Sunderland 27th, having already performed at Liverpool and at London's South Bank Centre..

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