Bristol’s week in jazz, February 25-March 3 2019

As ever there’s an upsurge in genre defiance going on in Bristol’s jazz scene, with crossover music drawing on contemporary classical, folk and global roots influences, several multimedia explorations, and a lot of groove-driven good times as well.

It’s a particularly good week for the worldy-wise muso, starting with French-Algerian collective Lo’Jo (Canteen, Tuesday 26). A longstanding WOMAD favourite their Gallic fusion music has elements of chanson, gypsy swing, flamenco and mestizo with vibrant north African beats and energetic soloing, and they should have the Canteen packed and dancing.

Similarly Nubiyan Twist (Trinity, Saturday 2) shamelessly graft their jazz onto infectious beats from Africa to the Caribbean via the Latin quarter, and local favourites Helele (Leftbank, Saturday 2) weave their assembled jazz talents into a distinctively West African tapestry.

A more restrained performer visits The Fringe (Wednesday 27): Sisanda is a young jazz vocalist from Johannesburg who came to Bristol to record her debut EP and then stuck around. With echoes of South African jazz and other more traditional styles running through her contemporary music choices there is no mistaking her roots.

Another musician whose roots are showing is Irish improvising guitarist and vocalist Paul Bradley, who has three gigs on the trot this week. The first is Athea (Canteen, Wednesday 27), his improvisatory duo with drummer Emma Holbrook, followed on Thursday by Ciotach (El Rincon). This is a continuation of his playing partnership with violinist Fiona Barrow, in which they explore and improvise around traditional music from Ireland, Scotland and England.

By contrast he rounds off the week at The Cube with Three Cane Whale (Saturday 1), the multi-instrumental trio whose tightly composed neo-classical folk music has figured on Radios 2 to 6 (though possibly not 5!).

The Three Cane Whale gig offers the chance to catch their At The Pictures set, with projections of 13 specially commissioned films to match their tunes.

Other multimedia opportunities this week include Synaesthesia (Gallimaufry, Wednesday 27), with artist Hollyseus Fly adding visuals to the improvised music of residents Waldo’s Gift, and the powerful immersive audio-visual experience of Shadow Meadow (Arnolfini, Saturday 2). This creation of Czech artist Jan Mocek is intended to test its audience – there’s even a warning about ‘extreme smoke’ – and is part of the submerge digital arts festival.

Talented percussionist Harriet Riley appears twice this week, too, firstly with Spindle Ensemble in the fine surroundings of The Forge (Friday 1). Another outfit to catch the ear of Radio 3 and others, the Ensemble’s music is a composed blend of cinematic, neo-classical acoustic textures with elements of improvisation.

Harriet appears again as a solo performer at Cafe Kino (Sunday 3) playing freshly devised pieces as part of a great value ‘new music triple bill’ alongside Krake (an improvised collaboration between Get The Blessing and Portuguese drummer Pedro Oliviera) and trumpeter Nick Malcolm’s fine contemporary jazz quartet jade, currently touring their new album Real Isn’t Real. Nick’s thoughtful and intricate compositions always make for some fierce improvisatory workouts.

Other contemporary jazz acts worth checking this week include  London’s hard-nosed post-minimalist trio Cesca (Mr Wolf’s, Tuesday 26) and Ethio-flavoured foursome Vipertime (Canteen Thursday 28) from Leeds.

Saxophonist Kevin Figes (The Bell, Monday 25) has always brought a more measured approach to improvisation and his compositional intelligence is beyond doubt, shown in both melodic elegance and the opportunities for stylish solo playing his tunes afford his excellent quartet. More saxophone treats are on offer at Future Inn (Thursday 28) from the James Morton Quartet, with the fiery alto player sure to demonstrate the value of his associations with players like Pee Wee Ellis, Andy Sheppard and Dennis Rollins while Welsh tenor sax man Dick Hamer (Bebop Club, Friday 1) can draw on playing experience from an earlier generation alongside Stan Tracey, Tal Farlow, Alan Barnes and others. His Quintet also introduces pianist Alex Veitch to the Bebop, having settled in Bristol last year.

And, finally, a cluster of consciously mismatched oddities across the week, beginning with Luxury Bucket ambient electronicist Shit Creek  (Old England, Monday 25) contributing to this week’s Liquid Library session and the Cafe Kino regular Silencio ambient music session (Wednesday 27) features live experimental music project Polakov. All kinds of malarkey can be expected when EP/64 headline at The Exchange (Thursday 28), topping a bill that also includes ‘musical response unit’ MARCY and free jazz in the cafe.