Music / Jazz
Review: Neutron Stars, Breaking Bread
They say jazz is all about improvisation, right? Well the Neutron Stars certainly proved that for their debut at Worm Disco’s Breaking Bread Jazz session when what should have been a vocal-led sextet found itself short of both singer and sax player, sudden victims of you-know-what. But, true to the fearless jazz make-do-and-mend spirit, the show still went on, and only the hardest of heart could have felt short-changed by the entertaining instrumental quartet the virus left standing.
The depleted Neutron Stars get on with the show …
The project is the brainchild of bass player Adam Newton but even he was happy to acknowledge trumpeter Jonny Bruce for taking the reins in the absence of Victoria Klewin’s vocal lead. The foursome was made up with Victoria’s keyboard companion Guy Shotton and drummer Matt Brown, the explosive percussion tyro behind Modulus III and Run Logan Run but very much under Jazz Manners for this gig. It proved an interesting combination of musical personalities as they ran through a nicely varied set of the kind of standard workhorses you can expect when the original set-list has had to be torn up at the last minute.
Adam Newton in action
An instrumental band is very different to a singer-led outfit and the bonus for the players is that it allows for much more deconstruction. Thus it was good to be able to hear Adam stretching his jazz chops, whether holding a disciplined pulse for Straight No Chaser or melting down Softly, As In A Morning’s Sunrise into a grooving exploration. His solo on Moaning’ was particularly effective in finding the gravity of the tune.
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Guy Shotton
Pianist Guy proved equally versatile, taking a respectfully straight ahead approach to Duke Ellington’s Just Squeeze Me, Don’t Tease Me yet providing a sketchy and elegiac framework for the cool-school reading of Angel Eyes. His solo showcase of All The Things You Are nicely celebrated the tune’s gently falling harmonics while unpicking the song structure .
Matt Brown on drums
There’s only room for a certain amount of showing off in a quartet and for all his moments of restraint it was inevitable that drummer Matt Brown would effortlessly claim his share of it. Thus he drove the off-kilter blues of Straight No Chaser with an incessant cymbal before erupting into a full-on Buddy Rich-style solo complete with its own internal dialogue and the obligatory ‘round the kit’ flourishes. It was a very crowd pleasing exhibition as was his intro to Caravan, the fearsome Latin overdrive of which clearly brought out the energy of his bandmates.
Jonny Bruce
But, for sure, it was Jonny Bruce who seemed to carry the night, albeit with characteristic lightness of touch. His chameleon ability to evoke the great trumpeters of yore meant he could treat us to the rasping wah-wah vocalisations of Cootie Williams for the Duke’s Take The A Train while still throwing in the distinctive Cuban howls of Guajiro Mirabal. At his Chetmost for Angel Eyes, his stabbing muted trumpet sound on Softly was pure Miles Davis and it was this versatility of tone that gave the evening its interesting variety. It all seemed effortless and, thanks to the equally sure footed responses from the other three players, gave the impression of a well-rehearsed set that belied the hasty last-minute sound check. Naturally we all hoped that Victoria Klewin and sax player James Gardner Bateman would be soon recovered from the virus, and of course their potential contribution was missed but, nevertheless, the evening had been left in safe hands and some highly enjoyable jazz had been the result.
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