Music / Jazz
Bristol’s week in jazz, December 9 – 15
Well there’s jazz guitarists and there’s jazz guitarists’ guitarists and we got excellent examples of both kinds on the agenda this week, plus an uberhip solo appearance, some hot young visitors, the return of a local supergroup and the usual entertaining miscellany …
The scope of John Etheridge’s career is frankly implausible – how could one guitarist simultaneously be at the heart of uber-prog legends Soft Machine, fill the stool alongside violinist Stephane Grappelli vacated by the late genius of swing Django Reinhardt and make up a duo with incomparable classical fretmeister John Williams? He is rightly held in high esteem by his peers and the return of John Etheridge’s Blue Spirits to The Fringe (Wednesday 11) will remind us of yet another side to his eclectic playing. The trio includes Pete Whittaker on Hammond and Nic France drumming and is a rich celebration of all things bluesy.
You could say bands like controversial US noise artists Swans were the post-punk inheritors of Soft Machine’s jazz-rock attitude. Lap steel guitarist Kristof Hahn (Crofters Rights, Friday 13) figured in various line-ups of that band but is increasingly seen as a highly improvisatory solo artist, layering the sound of plucked, bashed and stroked guitar strings around developmental melodic ideas. Much more restrained (but no less inventive) jazz guitar sounds come from Prudent Primate’s Ollie Bassingthwaite (Canteen, Thursday 12) while the Guy Calhoun Band (Gallimaufry, Tuesday 10) pairs Guy with fellow guitarist Will Edmunds in a new psych-inspired jazz-rock line-up.
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You can hear a definite flamenco flavour alongside jazz and rock in guitar-led instrumental New York trio City of the Sun (Exchange, Monday 9). It’s a unique fusion that leans on references to house music to create hypnotic and cinematic music – a term often linked with pianist and composer Andrew Christie (El Rincon, Friday 13) whose quartet also includes Sarah Moody’s atmospheric cello.
Being a member of The Comet is Coming is about as cool as it gets, and the band’s synth wrangler Danalogue (Loco Klub, Friday 13) must therefore paradoxically be a hot ticket. His ‘solo’ set is based around Indian 1982 acid house classic Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat with support from world jazz Londoners Cykada. Similar Afro-Latin dance influences come from Soma Soma (Old Market Assembly, Saturday 14), while super tight Cumbia purveyors Camo Clave precede them on Friday (13).
The Bebop Club welcomes a bunch of highly reputed young players from London. The Jack Yardley Quintet (Friday 13) is led by drumming hotshot Jack, a superstar graduate of the Guildhall whose creativity behind the kit has already gained plaudits from the likes of Martin Hathaway and Ed Jones. His co-conspirators are all considered up-and-coming on the London scene. Town of Cats sax player Ollie Angelkov Cummings is becoming a regular visitor up from Brighton and he returns to the Stag & Hounds (Sunday 15).
It’s really great to see that The Jazz Defenders (Future Inn, Thursday 12) are not only gigging again but have a brand new album to launch. This cool supergroup of Bristol-based players were pulled together by pianist George Cooper around a shared love of the classic Blue Note sound. Not that remarkable, except that they have been writing their own material to catch the spirit of those greats like Horace Silver and Lee Morgan and give it a fresh repertoire. The results, showcased on Scheming, are a fine celebration of a great jazz legacy given a brand new coat of paint.
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