Music / Jazz
The week in Jazz April 23-29
Plenty of action this week, with some tasty visitors on their way, but it’s good to be able to celebrate some local talent (albeit one who’s very widely known around the UK). When jazz musicians announce a ‘return to jazz classics’ it often means they’ve cobbled together a band at the last minute so they’re playing it safe on the repertoire. This hardly applies to Nick Malcolm’s Standards Project (Bebop, Friday 27) however because the free blowing trumpeter is famed for his wide-ranging eclecticism from electronic contemporary jazz to up-beat folk (with Eliza Carthy, no less) and when he looks to play other people’s tunes you can bet they’re viewed through his own remarkable skills. The band is a fine line-up, too, featuring empathetic pianist Rebecca Nash, the great Will Harris on bass and Cloudmakers drummer Dave Smith.
Run Logan Run in full flight
It’s unfortunate that Nick’s gig coincides with the launch of Run Logan Run’s debut album The Delicate Balance of Terror at the Cube on the same night. This excellent duo of Andrew Neil Hayes’ FX-ed saxophone and the weaving drumming of Dan Johnson has been maturing their sound and repertoire over the last three years, adding some finely judged niceties to the often thunderous tribalism of their music. The album promises to be a great summation of their work to date. They’re also joined by the Greg Cordez Quintet and Yama Warashi.
Los not-so-secret Clandestinos
Two more local heroes are joined by a celebrated ex-Bristolian at The Fringe (Wednesday 25) when drummer Daisy Palmer returns to play with Los Clandestinos aka Get the Blessing trumpeter Pete Judge and Robert Plant/Portishead keyboard player John Baggott. Daisy lives in London these days, playing in Paloma Faith’s live band, but her expressive touch and swinging style were once a frequent treat around these parts and will suit the retro-mainstream Clandestinos sound perfectly.
is needed now More than ever
World Service Project going into action
But what of the ’tasty visitors’ aforementioned? Well that’s another unfortunate clash of dates on Thursday (26) when you’ll need to choose between the punk-prog swagger of World Service Project at Canteen or the top-flight contemporary combination of Martin Speake and Ethan Iverson at St George’s. Led by pianist/provocateur Dave Morecroft World Service Project has been combining artful mischief and top-notch jazz thrills for 8 years, sometimes in their Match’n’Fuse international collaborations, and their third album Serve is due for release next week. Their live performances are always invigorating and entertaining experiences and past visits to Canteen have been memorable.
Distinctively elegant sax-man Martin Speake
It’s hard not to be more sedate than World Service Project and, indeed, the distinctively elegant sound of Martin Speake’s alto sax is certainly that. At first sight, pairing him with the more flamboyant assertiveness of former Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson might seem incongruous but all accounts of their quartet with Fred Thomas (bass) and James Maddren (drums) are very favourable indeed.
Rag and Bone sax hero Tim Hill
The highly un-sedate Tim Hill (Exchange, Sunday 29) joins guitarist Matthew Grigg and drummer Wayne Rex for the Exchange’s regular Sunday lunch slot. Saxophonist Tim combines improvised music with riotous outdoor folk and jazz spectacles – you may well have seen his Rag and Bone collective’s amazing carnival machines and monsters spouting fire somewhere – and his roaring reeds are a force of nature. More free-thinking strangeness comes to Rough Trade (Wednesday 25) when local avant-lounge musician EBU joins math-noise band Spectres and experimental minimalists Housewives.
Ultra-funky Afro-Latinists Animanz
And, finally, in anticipation of more of that surprising hot weather there’s an outbreak of Afro-Latin dance energy running through the week, starting with 7-piece Soma at the Gallimaufry (Tuesday 24) and continuing through the super-funky Animanz (Canteen, Friday 27) and culminating with newcomers Kola Roasta at Leftbank on Saturday night (28). The latter includes members of No Go Stop, Camo Clave and Antelope – all pretty stonking outfits with great established reputations.
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