Live review: Bath Jazz Weekend, Widcombe Social Club

If you wanted to doom a new music festival from the outset then most people would guess that holding it on the first weekend in January – when pockets are empty and people are all partied out – would be a good move. Seasoned jazz promoter (and thus serial optimist) Nod Knowles is not most people, however, and so here we were in the smartly comfortable surrounds of Widcombe Social Club welcoming the New Year with what proved to be a fine and varied programme of syncopated fun. Happily we were not alone, either – the Bath Jazz Weekend’s four sessions were a near sell-out. So much for most people.

Streetworks – Karen Street, Will Harris, Mike Outram and Andy Tweed

The bill of fare was an astute blend of local heroes and national names, mostly drawn from the impressive roster of jazz talent that lives hereabouts. Saturday afternoon featured a fine pastoral set from accordionist Karen Street’s Streetworks quartet, her chamber compositions steeped in a gentle Englishness reflected in elegant ensemble playing and judicious soloing. Mike Outram’s subtle guitar intro to The Last Mile flowered into a snappy calypso rhythm impeccably delivered by Will Harris on bass, with Andy Tweed’s sax in hot pursuit before Mike returned with a crisply clear solo that really was ‘like a ringing of bells’. Karen’s own contributions were often sparing but effective, adding cohesion through drawn out chords or gently emphatic bass riffs, most noticeably on the plaintive Peace/Fred where she steered the tune to its hopeful resolution.

Jason Rebello, Iain Ballamy

By contrast, the Iain Ballamy/Jason Rebello Quartet started with a rumbustious reading of Steve Swallow’s Eiderdown, Iain’s forceful tenor sax pushing Jason’s left hand into ever thicker harmonies before a softer rendition emerged and ushered in a busy bass solo from Percy Pursglove and drummer Mark Whitlam swung out for a vigorous four-way finale.

Jason Rebello, Iain Ballamy, Percy Pursglove

After a jaunty 7-time ‘derangement’ of April In Paris a more reflective Scandinavian mood pervaded Iain’s Lake Solon, with a nicely quick-thinking piano/bass duet underpinned by quietly turbulent drumming and overlaid with exploratory sax. A respectful version of Russ Freeman’s The Wind was followed by Iain’s question ’Are we having fun yet?’ – something perhaps all too rarely considered in ‘serious’ jazz circles. It was evident we were.

The Lambeth Swing – Adam Biggs, James Lambeth, Duncan Kingston, Andrew Murphy

I couldn’t make the Saturday evening gig, with electro-improvisers The Jellilalas opening for the Andy Hague Quintet and headliners Get The Blessing, but it clearly made a big (and positive) impression to judge by the comments next day. I did catch James Lambeth’s The Lambeth Swing in action on Sunday, the impeccably turned out vocalist with his old-school dynamic microphone perfectly suited to tunes like Take The A Train and The Way You Look Tonight. James’ breezy delivery of the latter, only lightly dramatised and punctuated by some very tidy guitar from Andrew ‘Murph’ Murphy, was a salutary demonstration of vocal confidence letting the song do the talking.

John Law’s ReCreations Quartet – John Law, Sam Crockatt, James Agg, Billy Weir

The weekend closed with John Law’s Recreations Quartet, ostensibly a project ‘playing other people’s tunes’ but only inasmuch as so creative a pianist would allow. Thus they opened with a kind of sampled version of Satie’s Gymnopedie No 1 followed by a hard-edged Lets Face The Music And Dance, complete with proggish bassline, that evolved into a dark tango. More surprising was their resolutely unswinging and irreverent take on Thelonious Monk’s Well You Needn’t – John is after all a noted devotee of Monk’s work. This number, driven on by a relentless click-track on Billy Weir’s hi-hat cymbal, brought out a very Coltrane-ish soprano sax solo from Sam Crockatt as well as some fine interplay between piano and James Agg on bass. A contrastingly reverential treatment of Adele’s Hello received a stately tenor sax in the Ben Webster style and a thoughtful bass solo.

It was a brilliantly executed set, the four players evidently very like-minded in their approach and well able to match each other in collaborative moments as well as providing impressive solo work. Their crowd-pleasing final sequence went from a suggestive piano solo based on Somewhere Over The Rainbow through Sam’s eventual off-stage melodic statement echoing from a distant corridor, triggering a bass solo that more picked up on the internal rhythms of the song than the inevitable melody. After a tinkling of little bluebirds from the piano a brisk Bach-inspired fugue involving piano and impressively flawless ‘walking bass’ at sprinting pace hinted at Summertime before slipping into a freeform interlude and a drum solo that finally allowed Billy Weir to relent with the hi-hat and roil around his drum kit with almost melodic expressiveness. Finally, an understated encore of Imagine held the line without slipping into schmaltz, softly brushed drums and distracted synth chords leaving more to the audience’s imagination as the closing notes of the festival weekend.

John Law’s ReCreations Quartet – Sam Crockatt, Billy Weir

All in all there was no doubt that this ambitious debut was a highly popular and successful event, proving that, even with this inauspicious timing, there is a solid audience for good jazz hereabouts and Nod Knowles is to be congratulated for getting the whole thing together. Astonishingly, the weekend was achieved without any major funding thanks to the support of local businesses and the willingness of performers and staff to take a share of any profits, co-operative style, rather than their usual fee. It is tempting to hope that greater sponsorship of any future events might give Nod the chance to explore his copious contact lists even further and establish this as a major element in the local jazz calendar.