Review: Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival Weekend, Lakota Gardens.

After Thursday’s dramatic opening evening the Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival settled down into something like normality: a three day sequence of diverse acts representing the best of local and national  musical talent. Which of course, in these days, is still far from normal so full marks to the dedication of the organisers for pulling it off. Yes, the menu was slimmer than previous outings and confined to just the one stage, and yes the pool of talent was more heavily locally sourced. But also – yes, there was a real festival vibe happening and some cracking musical moments in celebration of live entertainment.

Liane Carroll with Roger Corey (bass) Photo: Tony Benjamin

The blues contribution was splendidly represented by Chris Corcoran’s Blues Band’s driving set of horn-driven jump blues and the ever-ebullient Liane Carroll. Liane had the unenviable task of waking up a Sunday afternoon crowd but burst into action with reckless confidence, romping through a series of powerful classics ranging from Nina Simone to Steely Dan via Love For Sale and Fever. Her spellbinding take on Tom Waits’ I’m Gonna Take It With Me When I Go, however, showed just what a great singer she is. She’d followed clarinettist Alex Cox’s Sunday Service, a thoroughly interesting exploration of classic New Orleans clarinet styles jousting with Joe Webb’s piano. After some torrential Jelly Roll Morton numbers they switched to the crooning lushness of Duke Ellington’s  A Lull At Dawn which, interestingly, would prove to be the only swing moment in the whole weekend.

Silverado: Riaan Vosloo (bass) and Andy Hague (trumpet) Photo: Tony Benjamin

Two much-loved local Hard Bop outfits ploughed a Blue Note furrow, firstly Andy Hague leading his Silverado quintet in a well-honed tribute to Horace Silver, with brilliantly scored tracks like I Want You kicking off fine solos from Andy, Ben Waghorn and Jim Blomfield (the latter channelling both Bud Powell and the great Horace at times). Sunday’s set from pianist George Cooper’s Jazz Defenders came from a similar sound palette but, Silver’s Body and Soul apart, used original compositions like From The Ashes and Down Under to launch their solos, with sparkling work from Jake McMurchie’s sax and trumpeter Nick Malcolm. George had a few moments himself, dazzling with all ten fingers on the fast Latin groove of Costa del Lol. For Bristol Jazz fans the two bands represented a long awaited return to active service for a swathe of the best local talent.

Dennis Rollins’ Funky Funk: Anders Olinder, James Morton, Dennis Rollins, Davide Giovaninni, Tiago Coimbra Photo: Tony Benjamin

The headline sets were predictably the liveliest for atmosphere and groove, with the interplay between Dennis Rollins’ trombone and James Morton’s alto a highlight of Funky Funk’s high energy dance party set. It all came together in their Afrobeat-infused version of Sly Stone’s Sing A Simple Song, complete with Johnny Heyes’ jazz-rock guitar solo and enthusiastic call and response from the audience. Denny Ilett’s Electric Lady Big Band was a triumph when it launched at the 2019 festival and they came to the 2021 programme straight from two nights at Ronnie Scott’s Club. The 17-strong line-up was bursting with top names and the collective sound had a sledgehammer precision behind a series of great solos. Star turns came from Laura Jurd and Pat Hartley on Gypsy Eyes while Ben Waghorn gave Fire a suitably pyrotechnic alto solo followed by Laurence Cottle’s driving bass guitar. It was Get The Blessing’s Friday night set that raised the bar highest, though, combining raw musical power with improvisational freshness and on stage action into something both entertaining and thoroughly musically satisfying.

Anders Olinder, Sisanda Matayi, Guillaume Ottaviani, Sam Crockatt Photo: Tony Benjamin

But for many the two highlight sets came from locally based acts. Snazzback’s decision to use Herbie Hancock’s classic jazz-funk album Headhunters as the basis for their set was both ambitious and obvious because their free flowing sound has clearly been influenced by that recording. In the event they more than did it justice, navigating the various phases of the music in their own way and never overloading it: their collective sense was totally assured. The programme’s other highpoint came at lunchtime on Saturday when Bristol-based South African singer Sisanda Myataza brought her band onstage with a vigorous vocal instrumental that straightaway established her remarkable vocal range and control. It was a brave start and she held the audience’s rapt attention through jazz songs, a Zulu lullaby and a sequence of Miriam Makeba classics all of which she made her own. With Sam Crockatt’s lyrical tenor sax and Anders Olinder’s deft piano we were temporarily transported to a real cool late night jazz club in downtown Johannesburg – no mean feat for a sunlit afternoon in St Paul’s.