Bristol’s week in jazz, February 4-10 2019

There’s a definite thing for piano players in the air this week – you could get a hat-trick of them if so inclined – and a flurry of funky stuff, too.

There’s also a choice of jazz vocal stylings on offer, and of course some walks on the wild side.

Piano-wise the biggest name has to be Huw Warren (Fringe, Wednesday 6), appearing with his longtime foil Dudley Phillips on bass and Zoot Warren’s drumming. Huw and Dudley were founders of seminal 90s band Perfect Houseplants and have worked together ever since, albeit alongside Huw’s extensive career as a composer and work with singer June Tabor. Sometimes known as Trio Brasil, this band launches a new album with a decidedly Latin flavour. The Bebop welcomes an old friend in the shape of the John Donegan Quintet (Friday 8). Before moving to London John’s hard-bop piano was a feature on the Bristol scene and last year he released an album – Amarie – celebrating his time in the city. For this gig he’s got one of those great Bebop line-ups, including Ben Waghorn on sax, Andy Hague on trumpet and bass-player Greg Cordez as well as Toby Perrett drumming. And sandwiched between those two gigs you could catch the Alex Veitch Trio’s monthly residency at The Greenback (Thursday 7).

Thursday night poses a few dilemmas for the jazz aficionado, with a complete spectrum of choices ranging from the street-hop energy of Broken Brass Ensemble (Thekla) to the avant-gard constructions of Copper Sounds appearing as part of the Arnolfinis Ecstatic Material installation evening. Possibly the hardest choice, though, is between the West Coast vocal cool of Gary Alesbrook & Elliott Cole at Future Inn and the classic swing singing of Claire Martin & Ray Gelato at St George’s. Gary and vocalist Elliott first collaborated on Gary’s Jazz in Movies album, released last year, which marked a new direction for the Duval Project mainman and trumpeter. With a second jazz album in the pipeline this live band explores Gary’s long-time influence Chet Baker and other luminaries of the cooler West Coast scene.

The joyful cabaret swing chemistry between singer/saxophonist Ray Gelato and top vocalist Claire Martin is a well-established delight, of course, especially for fans of that Great American Songbook. Winner of the 2018 British Jazz Award for Best Vocalist, Claire has been at the top of the UK tree since the 90s. Ray Gelato’s big band The Giants has been a feature of the Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival and he’ll be back again this year. More immediately, Bristol’s own swing diva Lucy Moon will be bringing her Paper Moon Band to the Tobacco Factory (Sunday 10).

There’s one more gig on Thursday and it’s quite a contrast: Neon & The Deons (Gallimaufry) are a frenetic Dutch jazz-rock outfit somewhat akin to Gong or Can’s more psychedelic moments. They’re not the only Euro-prog visitors either – Saturday’s gig at the Island features French wig-out rockers Slift supporting Kraut-influenced producer Al Lover. Not to be outdone, Bristol’s own cosmic psych collective 5000 AD will be at No 1 Harbourside on Friday (8) and the eclectic Milon will be combining jazz, rock and Greek wedding dances at Leftbank (Saturday 9).

Friday night, on the other hand, is packed full of grooves from all kinds of directions. Anyone who knows the local jazz scene will recognise pretty much every member of the mighty No Go Stop (Old Market Assembly), 12-strong purveyors of original music that catches the spirit of Afrobeat perfectly. They’re up against Agbeko (Crofter’s Rights), who spice up their sound with Ethiopian and soul-jazz influences as part of Chai Wallah’s party and also the driving organ funk’n’b sound of Ev Newman’s Mohawkestra at The Forge.

There’s more esoteric fun to be had, of course, and the visit of ambient Japanese solo vibraphonist Masayoshi Fujita (Colston Hall Foyer, Wednesday 6) is one. He constructs hypnotic cycles of sound emphasising the acoustic potential of his instrument. Meanwhile, over at The Cube, also on Wednesday, there’s  Manish Pingle playing classical ragas on the Veena – a kind of dobro guitar – with tabla and sitar and a support slot from Andrew Hayes and Matt Brown in an improvised sax and drums duo. Even farther left field on the same night the Old England hosts An Evening of Spontaneous Performance featuring solo performers deploying, among other things, an ironing board, a little bag and cardboard. And little bag exponent Carnivorous Plants will be turning up again at Hydra Bookshop as part of the Liquid Library (Saturday 9).