Bristol’s month in jazz – September 2022

Ah – as Autumn brings the return of the cool we get the welcome news that local jazz institution the Bebop Club has been boosted with funding from guitarist Nigel Price’s crowdfunded campaign to support small venues in the wake of the pandemic. The club relaunches its weekly gigs at the Hen & Chicken on Thursday 8 with pianist Dave Jones’ Quintet playing the post-bop music of US saxophone legend Kenny Garrett. And it’s equally pleasing to welcome back Fringe Jazz returning to the Bristol Music Club on Wednesdays with the Jonny Bruce Organ Quartet opening the season on Wed 21.

The Bebop’s September programme also features a grooving new quartet led by guitarist Denny Ilett and tenor player Craig Crofton (Thur 15) and the return of John-paul Gard’s classy Hammond trio Pedalmania (Thur 29) which now features stylish guitarist Dan Waldman. An especial treat may well be the coming together (Thur 22) of Swiss contemporary saxophonist Martin Kern and Jim Blomfield’s piano trio with Riaan Voslooo (bass) and Andy Hague (drums). Martin’s style is solidly rooted in the jazz heritage while Jim’s prowess as a Latin player recently saw him guesting with Roberto Pla, no less, at the latter’s gig in London.

Riaan will also be playing at Fringe Jazz in the Art Themen Quartet (Wed 28) alongside pianist Huw Warren and drummer Tony Orrell. Ever-popular tenor player Art (pictured at the top) is a highly respected veteran of the UK jazz scene, not least for the many years of his musical partnership with piano legend Stan Tracey, and the foursome is an all-star affair. Equally popular (though not quite so veteran) tenor player Iain Ballamy makes two trips to Bristol this month, starting with a guest slot with Yetii (Thur 8, Greenbank). Greenbank residents Yetii are Alex Veitch’s piano trio with excellent bassist Ashley John Long and powerhouse young drummer Alex Goodyear. The evening aims to create that Pizza Express vibe with candlelight and pizza available and Iain will be bringing some new compositions so expect that to be a hot ticket, as indeed could be those for his duo appearance with accordionist Stian Carstensen at St George’s (Thur 29). The pairing – known as Little Radio and claiming to be ‘the smallest big band duo in the world’ – are one of those empathetic and original jazz collaborations where the players’ rapport is as much the story as their technical virtuosity.

That rings true for the AKA trio, as well (St George’s, Thur 22) – a sparkling Afro-Brazilian-European fusion featuring Antonio Forcione (guitar), Seckou Keita (kora & voice) and Adriano Adewale (percussion) that promises to bring Joy (the name of their latest album) to the occasion. Meanwhile The Bell has snagged a date on the latest European tour of Argentinian stars Tango Jazz Quartet (Monday 5) who pretty much do what it says on the tin and are promising new Piazzolla-inspired compositions. In a similar-ish vein, there’s full on Flamenco at St George’s from the Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company (Sun 25, two performances). The multi-guitar ensemble includes a dancer and singers in a production called Art Of Believing. Fans of the Ernest Ranglin legacy should catch the excellent Jazz Reggae Sessions at the Attic (Fri 9) or The Bell (Wed 14) while Brass Junkies’ New Orleans party sound returns to Canteen (Fri 23).

It’s a big month for saxophonist Sophie Stockham who brings an impressive new project to St George’s (Wed 14). Her new album Ria, being launched at the gig, features a set of carefully composed music for Sophie Stockham With Strings, an acoustic quintet of classical string players plus Sophie’s tenor sax. The album presents a completely different sound and style to her other projects such as Sefrial, Orfic or Dakhla Brass. She’s not abandoned the jazz, however, and will be appearing at the Stag & Hounds (Sunday 4) where she will be followed by the Jonny Bruce Organ Quintet (Sunday 11) and vocalist Marvin Muoneke (Sunday 18). Marvin will be hot-footing it over to the Raven later that day for their Sunday Jazz Conspiracy session, with the Raven’s other September guests including pianist Guy Shotton (Sun 4), guitarist Adam Stokes (Sun 11, plus guest singer) and vocalist Victoria Klewin (Sun 25).

Over in the wilder reaches of improvised and experimental music … drummer Dan Johnson kicks off the month at the Cube (Fri 2) as part of a BIPED session also featuring t l k. Dan later features in a Liquid Library evening (Tue 13, Exchange) supporting ‘improv-sludge’ band Shimmering Tomb. There’s a quieter evening of handpan music at Meridian Studios (Sat 3) and then Australian sound artists Alexandra Spence and Brigitte Hart appear at Strange Brew (Thur 8) with the multi-media Viridian Ensemble also contributing. More a/v experimentation comes to Crofters Rights courtesy of HAAL’s ‘immersive visuals’ (Fri 16) while down the road a synth focused takeover of The Cube (Thur 8) comes courtesy of Echoic Memory’s presentation of Dutch electronicist Orphax and UK sonic artist Scanner. And the Cube rounds off the month with an evening from the Irregular Patterns label (Fri 30) featuring (among others) artist and composer Andrew Spackman’s new Dark Jazz Project.

Dan Moore playing with Modulus III (pic: Tony Benjamin)

And talking of new projects there’s something very interesting happening at Canteen (Wed 28) in the form of Slider, a veritable supergroup of extremely creative players playing a mix of original compositions and tunes from Medeski, Martin & Wood and The Fall among others. With Dan Moore (Modulus III) on keys, Neil Smith (Brackish) playing guitar, Chris Jones (Orfic) on bass and drumming from Chris Langton (Snazzback) it promises to launch yet another great musical asset into the Bristol scene.

Finally: there’s plenty of chances to join in on the jam scene with Strange Brew’s weekly Bounce Jam (Mondays) and the Old England’s reggae/hip-hop Jam & Toast on Thursdays. The Fringe hosts its Hot Club Jam (Mon 5), Canteen has its monthly Jazz Session (Wed 7), the Hare on the Hill has its Hot Jazz Jam (Wed 14) and Canteen revives the lamented Left Bank LBJB groove with Stone Cold Hustle funk jam (Wed 21).

Just do it!