Graeme Stephen, alongside drums and saxophone, plays guitar to accompany a screening of ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’, the silent horror film widely regarded as the definitive classic of the genre. Stephen’s new score compliments the show perfectly; so perfectly in fact that at times it was easy to forget that his is a new composition, and I found myself watching the film and taking in the music as part of that, rather than absorbing them as two separate entities. In this highly successful project, Stephen manages to put tension, confusion and outrage back into the silent film, along with the whole range of emotions you would expect to hear in the original score.

The Jazz Bar, until 19 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Stephanie Gray]