Music / Jazz
The week in Jazz June 18-24
In a week full of jazz players making multiple appearances the prize for cramming it all into three days goes to … trumpeter Pete Judge who appears in three different bands on consecutive nights this week, namely: drum and trumpet duo Eyebrow (Gallimaufry, Thursday 21), Dakhla Brass (Old Forge, Friday 22) and Get The Blessing (Clifton Cathedral, Saturday 23). The Dakhla Brass gig is a chance to catch their expanded line-up, with Riaan Vosloo’s double bass a new stringed element in their brassy sound. The Old Forge should be an ideal setting for their blend of rich harmonic music with grooving dance energy and the bonus is a support slot from Nick Malcolm’s soulful electronic improvisation project Jade.
Get The Blessing
The Get The Blessing gig is going to be an interesting one, too, as it’s a collaboration with conductor/composer William Goodchild and the Bristol Symphony Orchestra that will involve orchestrated settings of the band’s music as well as pieces by Ravel and Piazolla and a number from the Miles Davis/Gil Evans Sketches of Spain that will inevitably showcase Mr Judge’s trumpet big time. By comparison, Eyebrow’s Gallimaufry set supporting electrofuturist improvisers Hippo should be a breeze, and should appeal to many who make it to the Galli’s Tuesday night (19) appearance by HexCut, a locally based piano trio whose fluid sound is very attuned to contemporary jazz and dance music.
Annika Skoogh
In a week dominated by instrumental music it’s nice to see the Future Inn showcasing a vocalist, namely Swedish-born Annika Skoogh and her Exeter-based quartet which features familiar bass player Al Swainger. Annika has a classic voice for modern jazz and Latin music – she also sings in Portuguese – and may include the odd Swedish folk song in her repertoire. The band also includes pianist Matt Carter and drummer Coach York, best known for his involvement in Mike Westbrook’s variously sized ensembles.
is needed now More than ever
A Japanese Goat in action
There’s a small-scale Japanese invasion happening in the shape of Goat (Crofters Rights, Wednesday 20) and Kukagendai (Old England, Friday 22). Both are minimalist improvising outfits – it’s important not to confuse this Goat with a similarly named masked Swedish retro-prog band by the way – with the Goat quartet’s percussive sound differentiated from Kukagendai’s more Math-minded bass/guitar/drums (and yelps).
Brackish
Sandwiched between those two you can find Bristol’s finest post-Math jazz-rock guitar band Brackish launching their third album Firm But Fair at Crofter’s Rights (Thursday 21) with Yo No Se and Iceman Furniss Quartet in support. The new album is an interesting set of instrumentals, considered in structure yet hovering nicely on the edge of unhinged at times. There’s even a moody Lounge-ish number – By Monday – that might surprise fans of their usually full-on sound. More surprises are promised at The Fringe on Wednesday (20) when the notoriously maverick drummer reveals his Tony Orrell’s Big Top, a new double-drum quartet with Matt Brown, keyboard player Dan Moore and Jake McMurchie’s sax. Goodness knows what they’ll be playing but you can be sure it’ll be spontaneous, playful and full of nifty moments.
The Halftone Quartet
And if you want spontaneous there is, of course, a fair amount of improv-based activity to keep up with, starting with the Calcine Quartet headlining at The Exchange (Tuesday 19) through to COIMS cassette launch at Cafe Kino (Friday 22) and Vostok 5 with neo-classical improvisers Halftone (Cafe Kino, Saturday 23) and finally the mysterious Light Coorporation who have the Exchange’s Sunday Matinee session (24). The latter is a grooving free-flowing project built around Polish guitarist Mariusz Sobanski with drummer Tony Orrell, Dominic Lash on bass and saxophonist Jake McMurchie fresh from Getting The Blessing in the Cathedral the night before (and clocking up his fourth gig this week) and could well be a highlight of the week.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
