Underscore

Sally Ford and the Idiomatics – Patrick Cronin and Michael Havir – fill the Space Theatre with a fusion of music, song, and spoken word, offering decades of musical style to underscore Ford’s observations through poetry and prose.

Havir is on keyboards and electronic effects; Cronin is on synthesizers, sequencers, seemingly effortless trombone, and the most amazing whistles. As well as her voice carrying the narrative of the stories, Ford plays flutes and saxophone. The three-piece experiment with effects pedals to distort, add chorus or reverb, which enrich the reminiscing of years gone by.

There are stories of hitchhiking to Santa Cruz and Auckland, when young and optimistic, and tales of changing relationships – those that have exhausted themselves in ‘Together Too Long’, those that are doomed not to last in ‘Marriage of Style’. Ford calls it ‘melancholic electronica’ yet whilst some songs are sad and thoughtful, all of them are infused with at least some hope and happiness. Even special guest Brain Nankervis’ retelling of his mother’s final days is delivered with fondness and smiles, though the memory still cracks his voice. There’s a special kind of intimacy here in Ford and Nankervis sharing their personal stories.

Ford and her superbly focused and talented band underscore her writing, sometimes transformed to lyrical songs, others remain spoken word with a sung chorus to frame each chapter, but all have fantastic rhythm and pace, with the unique combination of traditional and modern instruments (and musical styles) cradling each piece, and giving it different shapes and textures.