Bristol’s month in jazz January 2023

So – recycle the wrapping paper and stash those decorations, it’s time to move on and embrace a whole new year of jazz-related entertainment around Bristol. January 2023 may be a bit slow starting – NYE hangovers to be cleared, no doubt – but still promises all sorts of good things to get out for. And you can start with a bang by catching the Bath Jazz Weekend (Fri 6-Sun 8), a brilliant three-day line-up including piano stars Andrew McCormack, Matthew Bourne, Robert Mitchell and Rebecca Nash, stunning violin prodigy Theo May and many more. A definite highlight will be the reprise of Harriet Riley and Pete Judge’s poetry and music project Comfort In Chaos on Sunday afternoon. And it seems we were rather too quick to announce the demise of Sunday jazz sessions at the Stag & Hounds because – happily! – they’re definitely back, starting with saxophonist Sam Crockatt (Sun 8), pianist Alex Veitch (Sun 15), saxophonist Terry Quinney (Sun 22) and trumpeter Rowan Porteous (Sun 29). What a great line-up.

The Beacon’s Tonic Session welcomes ever-entertaining keyboard player and vocalist Liane Carroll (Thur 19) whose live wire set of soul and jazz was a highlight of the 2019 Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival. Liane has been a well-respected star of the UK scene for some 25 years, but by contrast Dutch ‘space jazz’ musician Ronald Langestraat (Strange Brew, Sat 21) had to wait over 30 years for his self-recorded album Searching to get released in 2019. It’s now recognised as a cool classic of world music influenced electro jazz and, in his eighties, he’s finally able to tour the album to great acclaim. The considerably younger Hammond player Guy Shotton provides the keyboard grooves for trumpeter Jonny Bruce’s Organ Quartet opening the 2023 Fringe Jazz programme (Bristol Music Club, Wed 18). Guy also figures on piano in the Alex Clarke & Dan Newberry Quintet (Bebop Club, Thur 26), a twin sax led band featuring two rising stars on alto and tenor respectively. Saxophonist Craig Crofton opens the Bebop Club sessions (Hen & Chicken, Thur 19) with his new quintet Split Tone also featuring the grooving keyboards of Anders Olinder. And of course there’s Hammondmeister Jonny Henderson at Canteen (Wed 25) in a new jazz-funk trio with Snazzback guitarist Eli Jitsuto and Run Logan Run drummer Matt Brown and the Pedalmaniac himself John Paul Gard’s trio (The Bell, Mon 9)

The privations of lockdown led to many interesting projects and Freight Train (Bristol Beacon, Sat 14) is one: percussionist Paul Clarvis brought together Irish folk singer Cathy Jordan and pianist Liam Noble via Zoom. The aim was to revisit the jazz-blues material of Mose Allison, with whom Clarvis had worked, and the results have been highly acclaimed. The John Pearce & Alex Hutchings Trio (Fringe Jazz, Wed 25) is another new project, more locally grown, which sees fusion guitarist Alex move into a more straightforward jazz style as player and composer/arranger. Working with flamboyant violinist John they have spent the best part of 2022 developing this new direction and virtuoso fireworks can be expected. Similar pyrotechnics will no doubt feature when the free spirited electro-acoustic fusion quartet Milon return to Canteen (Wed 11). The Bell will be featuring the all-star Riaan Vosloo’s Uphill Game (Monday 16) featuring half of Get The Blessing and half of Run Logan Run plus bass star Riaan.

It’s always good to chart the growing national prominence of local bands and electro-jazz instrumental modernists Hexcut celebrate new single Chasms at Rough Trade (Sat 28) as a teaser for their impending album debut. Plymouth’s Cabarats are already a festival fixture with a blend of jazz, ska and Balkan grooves behind some fancy musicianship. Hip-hop meets jazz fusions are well represented at Canteen with improvising fivesome Slapdash (Tue 10) and lockdown guerrillas Bristol Street Music (Tue 17). Fans of legendary local funksters Mohawkestra will want to catch powerhouse spin-off Dusk Art Rhythm Quartet (The Bell, Wed 11) and lovers of big brass sounds can head for Mr Wolf’s to catch Cardiff septet Shake Your Brass (Sat 14) or Bristol Hornstars funky spinoff Felonious Funk (Fri 27). The latter may also feature tenor player Seth Pannifer who gets his own gig at the venue on Tuesday 31, while another Hornstars alumnus Benjy Sandler brings his trio to St Paul’s Church, Clifton (Mon 9), courtesy of Dave Mowatt’s team from St Stephens who are displaced by decorators.

In over 50 years as a performer, vocalist and trumpeter Phil Minton (Cube, Mon 9) has evolved a phenomenal freedom of vocal exploration that is all his own whether in large ensembles with Mike Westbrook, Tony Oxley or Lindsey Cooper or completely solo. He comes to the Cube in a vocal duo with Audrey Chen, headlining a packed night of improv diversity. The Cube is also hosting Mouthfeel (‘a night of experimental music’) headlined by the collaboration of percussionist Will Guthrie and ‘techno agitator’ Container. Not to be outdone on the improv front, Cafe Kino has the veteran Broken Numbers 7-tet (Wed 4) and a triple bill of freely improvised music (Wed 18) with the trumpet/drum duo Vicente/Lisle headlining. The ever impressive drummer Dan Johnson offers his brand of  focused freeness over an 8 hour long ‘deep listening’ solo performance (D-Unit, Sat 21 from 12 noon) that you can come and go from at will.

There’s a small but perfectly formed section of world music influences on offer this month, beginning with multi-instrumentalist Pete Yelding’s Indo-fusion music (Orchard Coffee, Sun 8). Tropical bass band Xaman X launch their new EP of electro-Cumbia at Canteen (Fri 13), which should be a night of frenzied dancing and Moroccan psychedelic Gnawa band Bab L’Bluz can expect similar at Jam Jar (Wed 18). Things might be a little calmer for Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor in his duo with Turkish baglama player and singer Erdal Erzincan (St George’s, Sun 22) though an undertow of dance rhythms runs through their instrumental improvisations. And all-female Afro-Brazilian drum’n’voice collective Safrela combine vocal harmony and pounding rhythms at Canteen (Sat 21).

And then there is jam, spread liberally across the month with the weekly Stag & Hounds session (Sundays), Bounce Jam (Strange Brew, Mondays), Donut Filler Jam (Mr Wolf’s, Wednesdays) and Jam and Toast (Old England, Thursdays) plus fortnightly JFS Jam sessions (Mr Wolf’s, Tuesday).