Music / Jazz
The week in Jazz April 30 – May 6
Well there Bristol scene is humming nicely this week but there’s no doubt where you’ll find the city’s most determined jazz buffs at the weekend. The Cheltenham Jazz Festival (Wednesday 2 – Monday 7) is one of the country’s most prestigious gatherings of talent, with real big names from around the world alongside genuinely cutting edge youngsters rattling the music’s cage. Things start mid-week with popular vocalists Randy Crawford and Van Morrison before a roller coaster weekend programme crams 50 gigs across six venues. With hip names like Kamasi Washington and Moses Boyd alongside the great Bill Frisell or Jim Black it’s definitely worth the 40 minute trip up the M5. Check their website for full listings.
Andy Sheppard and Eivind Aarset
But, to be fair, there’s an especially tempting jazz menu on home ground as well, with Andy Sheppard & Eivind Aarset (St George’s, Thursday 3) a real must-see. En route to Cheltenham with Andy’s full quartet, the pair intend to ‘play the building’ at St George’s, and the combination of Andy’s thoughtful lyricism on sax and Eivind’s abstract imagination on electronically processed guitar should produce sublime soundscapes.
Matana Roberts
There’s a similar intrigue about Matana Roberts & Kelly Jayne Jones improvisatory offering for The Cube’s playthecube series (Friday 4). These two sound artists and musicians approach collaboration thoughtfully and promise ‘tactile electro-acoustic interplay’ alongside deeply expressive playing on saxophone and flute.
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Moonhooch blowing Brooklyn away
Considerably less subtle but certainly very powerful stuff will rock the Thekla when Moon Hooch play on Sunday (6). Using complex electronic processing and raucously raw playing this New York trio pits two horn players with a fearsome drummer to produce exhilarating live jazz/dance music. Performance poet Dizraeli is a bonus support presence, too.
Seriously whimsical – Shatner’s Bassoon
Good to see Leeds experimentalists Shatner’s Bassoon heading up Friday night’s big bill at The Old England. With a third album now released their particular disjointed brand of serious whimsy shows no sign of abating. Local psych/funkers Prudent Primate are also on that bill but you can catch them in their own right at No 1 Harbourside (Saturday 5).
Pete Cunningham shows off his product
Producer Pete Cunningham’s Ishmael Ensemble project (Lantern, Friday 4) launched last year to great acclaim thanks to a blend of spiritual jazz values with cool electro-dance production. Their touring show is an ambitious A/V reworking of the Yellow Magic Orchestra’s seminal 1981 Technodelic album with live visuals from animator Amie Nowlan.
Sam Crockatt – you might see him twice …
Very much of the present, saxophonist George Crowley’s name has cropped up in a wide variety of jazz contexts, delivering a well-rounded and assertive voice to whatever he’s playing. The Bebop Club has him billed as Crowley, Luft and Giles – an electro-acoustic sax/guitar/drums trio project – but his website has him playing with Sam Crockatt, Riaan Vosloo and Tim Giles in a quartet. Both are top-rank combinations however so whichever turns up the music should be ace. You can definitely catch the Sam Crockatt Quartet at Fringe earlier in the week (Wednesday 2) with Dan Moore on keys, Riaan Vosloo playing bass and the high octane drumming of Dave Smith. Given Sam’s award-winning skills on the saxophone that’s another brilliant line-up that should pack the Fringe.
Tezeta – seductively wonky
For some more wordily ambience the week offers three interesting treats, starting with the first of bluesman Lewis Creavan’s monthly Dharma Blues sessions (Gallimaufry, Tuesday 1) promising to bring guitar-led blues, funk and jazz together with Eastern Classical influences. The polyrhythmic Snazzback are at the Galli on Thursday (3) with their trademark mix of Afro-Latin funk and jazz, while the mighty Tezeta bring Ethiopian-style funk to Leftbank (Friday 5). Led by keyboard player Dan Inzani, Tezeta have really mastered the seductively wonky sound and hypnotic rhythms of Mulatu Astatke and others.
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