Bristol’s month in jazz – July 2023

Summer is that time when the regular gigs thin out while the festivals flourish. There’s no Bebop Club this month and just the one Fringejazz gig (Will Bartlett Trio, Wed 5) and, of course, the Stag and Hounds is sadly no more.  The last Fringe In The Round before the break (The Fringe, Tue 4) is a cracking double bill of vocal/guitar duo Living Standards and Twospeak, paradoxically an electro-acoustic instrumental quartet on tour from London. Festivalwise of course we have the St Pauls Carnival (Sat 1/Sun 2) and the Harbour Festival (Fri 14-Sat 16) but the most jazz action will be happening down in Swanage (Fri 7-Sun 9) or up the road at WOMAD (Thur 27-Sun 31). Highlights of the Swanage line-up include Tony Kofi’s Inside Straight, Norma Winstone’s Trio, Arun Ghosh and the almost mythical supergroup Perfect Houseplants, while WOMAD’s jazz treats include The Comet is Coming, tuba behemoth Theon Cross and seminal Afrobeat engine Femi Kuti’s Positive Force.

Pianist Will Bartlett’s brief return to the UK from his Berlin base (Fringejazz, Wed 5) is a rare chance to catch this classic jazz musician in a trio also featuring impressive bass player Tabea Kind. Bristol pianist Rebecca Nash will feature as a member of Steve Banks’ excellent quintet (St George’s Glass Studio, Sat 1) with the guitarist presenting his well-received album debut Emboldened as well as premiering a linked performance from young musicians mentored by Steve. Rebecca’s own Sarsen Drift and Redefining Element 78 projects will both feature at Swanage, too, as will Get The Blessing whose Pete Judge brings his trumpet/drum duo Eyebrow to El Rincon (Thur 6). Pete’s GTB colleague Jake McMurchie is now a regular member of Blue Note stylised quintet The Jazz Defenders (Old Duke, Fri 14) while fellow saxophonist Kevin Figes (pictured at top) has arranged the music of the late Keith Tippett and his Soft Machine colleague Elton Dean for a new sextet You Are Here. They will be performing the music alongside some of Kevin’s own pieces in the walled garden of the Belmont Estate (Sat 22). Fans of well-shredded jazz guitar should gravitate to The Bell for the visit of dazzling US fusion axeman BD Lenz (Mon 17) and his trio. The Avellana Jazz Quartet (St Michael & All Angels, Sat 22) offer ‘non-standard’ jazz on the borders of contemporary classical music, a territory also targeted by guitarist Martin Mexme’s Worldwide Experiment (Canteen, Wed 12) albeit from a more funky angle. El Rincon also has soul-jazz vocalist Michaela Fedeczco (Thur 13) while the highly original soul-jazz singer and guitarist Lea Mondo will be at Canteen (Sat 15).

The strangely named Around About Dusk (Canteen, Wed 26) have their own highly original sound embracing classic jazz, French musette and soulful blues fronted by the  charismatic Rachel Lawrence’s suave vocals and moody accordion. Classic swing-jazz vocalist Miss Kiddy will be headlining at the Ham Farm Festival (Sun 30) in Emerson’s Green. And how many brass combos do we now have locally? This month sees Cardiff’s Bass12 Brass Band (The Stables, Fri 7), Jack Mac’s Brass Attack (Mr Wolf’s, Fri 14), Bells Angels (Mr Wolf’s, Sat 15) Shake Your Brass (Mr Wolf’s, Sat 15) and Felonious Funk (The Stables, Fri 28). Less brassy Stables regulars Locomoss (Fri 14) throw funk, Latin and hip hop into their particular mix, while The Bell hosts tenor sax titan Craig Crofton’s Quartet (Wed 19) with the very groovy Jonny Henderson’s classic Hammond sound at its core.

The bells, the bells! Tintinnabulation (Strange Brew, Fri 21) brings a diverse range of bells and performers together using choreography, text and music from musician/sculptor Marcus Vergette, pianist Matthew Bourne and others. Local improv heroes Dan Johnson and Copper Sounds will be providing support with ‘their own unique set of bells’. Strange Brew will also be hosting Dali de Saint Paul unveiling the 6CD box set of EP/64 recordings (Thur 6) with a screening of the documentary film about the now completed project. It’s a busy month for music at The Cube, too, starting with the shamanic Arrington de Dionyso (Sun 9) playing bass clarinet and his self-invented Bromiophone. Ear-shredding can be expected from Lo Egin’s ‘doom jazz’ as part of the venue’s night of ‘sonic catharsis’ (Fri 14), while the QWAK Club welcomes Avant Gard computer music pioneer Carl Stone (Tue 18). There’s an entire weekend collaboration (Sat 22/Sun 23) with the Greater Lanarkshire Auricular Research Council aka GLARC and you could even contribute to the programme – check the Cube website for details.  And don’t forget the monthly gathering of the South West Improvisers Group (Cafe Kino, Mon 3) bringing a dozen of the best local free players together with guest percussionist Luigi Marino. Definitely a case of ‘expect the unexpected’.

Given there’s the WOMAD festival just up the road at Malmesbury there’s surprisingly little world music on offer in Bristol this month. But it’s all good stuff, with a fairly global reach. The Cotham Club’s monthly session features Brazil’s livewire Theo Mizú & Banda’s original Tropical Balkan fusion (Cotham Parish Church, Fri 21). The band also appear at Canteen (Thur 6). Popular big name Tuareg Stratocaster slingers Tinawiren are back in town at SWX (Sat 15) with those rolling desert guitars, and Ghanaian master drummer Ben Baddoo returns to Canteen (Sun 23) with his West African xylophone riffs. Senegalese singer and multi-instrumentalist Amadou Diagne and Group Yakar make their way to The Bell (Wed 12). There’s a celebration of Middle Eastern and North African music at the Palestine Museum’s Gaza Concert (Wed 12) with live performances including a link-up with musicians in Gaza, Moroccan oud player Soufian Saithi and the twin-oud duelling of Bristol-based Nabra. Cross-cultural fusion abounds with the Attuned Trio and Quartet (Cube, Thur 13), the three-handed version being focussed on traditional Indian raag played on slide guitar, electric guitar and tabla while the quartet includes virtuoso Cuban jazz violinist Omar Puente and introduces Afro-Cuban ideas into the Indian form.

The danceable mestizo sound of powerful sextet Negra Santa (The Bell, Wed 26) hails from the Buenos Aires alternative scene and comes with attitude. By contrast the twin acoustic guitar and percussion flamenco-rumba of Rumberos de Portabello – also at The Bell (Tue 4) hails from busking at a well-known London street market. The ultra-contemporary sound of Cuba hits the Jam Jar (Thur 13) in the energetic form of singer/flautist La Dame Blanche and her band playing their mash up of reggae, salsa, hip hop and pretty much every kind of Latin groove. Cardiff-based Sun Kings similarly melt down rhythms, spicing up Cumbia with brass-tinted ska and punk.

And let’s not forget the jam sessions, with the weekly regular Donut Filler Jam (Mr Wolf’s, Weds) and Jam & Toast (Old England, Thurs) plus one-off sessions: Hot Club Jam (Fringe, Mon 3); Stone Cold Funk Jam (Canteen, Tue 4/Tue 18); Canteen Jazz Session (Wed 5); Hot Jazz Jam (Hare on the Hill, Wed 12) and Jazz Rap (Jam Jar, Sun 16).