Music / Jazz
Bristol’s week in jazz, Jan 28-Feb 3 2019
It’s quite a worldly week as we move into February, with a particularly strong Iberian influence, but there’s some fine no-nonsense jazz as well.
One particular jazzy treat is the return of the Iain Ballamy/Jason Rebello Quartet to The Fringe (Wednesday 30).
It’s a cracking foursome who sparkled at the recent Bath Jazz Weekend thanks to the empathy and talent of the two front men on sax and piano, ably complemented by Percy Pursglove on bass and Mark Whitlam’s drumming.
is needed now More than ever
The Bell in Bath has some equally tempting contemporary jazz on Monday (28) when Greg Cordez brings his all-star quintet including saxophonist Sam Crockatt and trumpeter Nick Malcolm to showcase Greg’s excellent Last Things Last album from 2018.
There’ll be fiery saxophone aplenty at the Bebop Club (Friday 1) when the fearsome Simon Spillett teams up with Jim Blomfield (piano), Riaan Vosloo (bass) and Andy Hague (drums). Deeply inspired by the late legendary UK hard bopper Tubby Hayes, Simon has a remarkable technical ability and the stamina to evoke the torrents of bebop creativity that made Tubby one of the all-time greatest British jazz players. There’s more bop inspiration behind saxophonist Sophie Stockham’s new Orphic project (Canteen, Sunday 3) – billed as a trio with Pete Judge and Chris Jones on trumpet and bass respectively we learn that they’ll also be joined by drummer Tony Orrell for this gig (but don’t be fooled by the Canteen website picture!).
Saxophonist Ronan Perrett brings a more contemporary jazz to Canteen (Wednesday 30), with influences from the likes of fellow Cornishman Aphex Twin and other electronic producers as well as contemporary classical music and more global styles from Africa and South America. The band are called TwoSpeak but, confusingly, there’s actually four of them.
Worldly influences come right to the fore when Snarky Puppy mainman Michael League brings his global project Bokante to St George’s (Thursday 31). It’s a snappy fusion full of African influences and naturally it’s a hot ticket that will surely sell out but disappointed fans might like to high-tail it over to the Marble Factory instead where the mighty Omar Souleyman will be showcasing his new album To Syria With Love, another set of infectious grooves with his trademark lyrical style.
There’s Afro-Latin fun at Fiddlers on Saturday (2) when the Worm Disco crew bring the Netherlands based collective Arp Frique to town. Their complex percussion and distinctive flute evokes an updated Tropicalia sound that’s great for dancing. It’s a shame it clashes with the return of Los Mercenarios to Leftbank on the same night – another fine crew of jazz players blending Latin and Caribbean styles to their purposes. And for more purely Spanish entertainment there’s Ladino singer Rosalind Moreno-Parra (Salt Cafe, Friday 1) and jazz/Flamenco guitarist extraordinaire Eduardo Niebla (St George’s, Saturday 2).
A couple of jazz vocalists in the traditional style pop up, each with classy accompaniment. First up: the Becki Biggins Quartet previewing her new It’s A Man’s World project (Future Inn, Thursday 31), with saxophonist Ben Waghorn and Hammond virtuoso John-paul Gard jousting alongside Andy Tween’s drumming. Then on Saturday (2) Tina May will be in the Cadbury Hall, Frampton on Severn with Dave Newton on piano and Paul Jefferies playing bass.
There’s a gathering of 80s post-punk luminaries at Cafe Kino (Friday 1) when improvising sax and drums duo Brace (one of whom is Pigbag saxophone veteran Ollie Moore) are joined by ex-Pop Group guitarist Dan Catsis) and Spirit Level bass player Paul Anstey. Quite what Young Echo Collective ‘spoken word’ contributor Chester Giles is doing in such grizzled company is unclear but it should all be very spontaneous. And there’s multi-media improvisation at The Cube the same night when Thought Forms guitarist Dee Dhariwal and visual artist Sarah James collaborate as Rainbow Yawn in support of singer/songwriter Alexander Tucker.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
