Nature's Glory, Fancy's Child

Press quotes

Moving in to the Dance Centre's intimate theatre it's time for Corey Mwamba and his Symbiosis Ensemble to perform 'Nature's Glory, Fancy's Child' - an ambitious suite inspired by the famous 18th century African-born Ignatius Sancho. Ambitious, not just because of the scale of the suite - 12 instruments and an extensive narrative element delivered by Corey - also because of potential for it to become an exercise in worthiness. Thankfully the musicians deliver with subtlety and power in equal measures - the line up includes two sax, violin, trombone, piano, two percussionists and Mwamba's own exuberant vibes. The spoken word elements takes the listener through Sancho's story - from being rescued as an orphaned child on a slave ship to his celebrated life as an educated gentleman, literary figure and renaissance man of Georgian England. The moods conjured by the music are spot on - from the initial darkness of the slave-ship, through to playful and swinging grooves of the growing boy and man, on to a superbly urgent piece encapsulating his letter witnessing an infamous anti-popery riot in London. Corey and the group pull this difficult opus off with finesse and great emotive power. Derby Evening Telegraph, April 2005