Music / Jazz
The week in Jazz May 21-27
While many jazz musicians’ style mellows and matures over the length of their career some notable exceptions seem to keep that fire and spark undimmed. Saxophonist Ed Jones (Hen and Chicken, Sunday 27) is one such, storming onto the 80s scene as sideman to the equally irrepressible Dick Heckstall-Smith, and for many years he was a regular visitor to Bristol with powerhouse bands like Killer Shrimp. His latest acoustic quartet with pianist Ross Stanley, Riaan Vosloo’s bass and Tim Giles drumming has all the hallmarks of improvisational energy that you’d expect from this master of the contemporary jazz scene.
Mammal Hands
On the other hand – representing the current generation of modernists – super-cool trio Mammal Hands (St George’s, Thursday 24) spice their tightly structured spiritual jazz compositions with intriguing shifts and changes. Last seen at The Fleece it’s likely that St George’s may offer a more attentive space to appreciate their often subtle ideas, with the bonus of ambient drum’n’trumpet duo Eyebrow whose scene-setting support slot will feature visuals from Kathy Hinde.
Andy Hague in big band mode
There’s some hot-shot trumpet action around this week, with the Fringe welcoming the Andy Hague Quintet (Wednesday 23), while the Bebop sees the return of Loz Speyer’s Inner Space (Friday 25) and the Bath Festival closes with the ebullient Jonny Bruce (Sunday 27). Andy’s fivesome has long been one of Bristol’s great jazz treats, with pianist Jim Blomfield and Ben Waghorn’s sax making the most of Andy’s great compositions and arrangements in a classic post-bop sound.
is needed now More than ever
Loz Speyer
As a composer Loz Speyer has a more radical approach and his distinctive pieces greatly rely on the musical personalities in his tight-knit collective which includes the compatibly contrasting saxophones of Rachel Musson and Chris Biscoe and their 2017 Life On The Edge CD was an immediate critical success. Jonny Bruce is a master interpreter of the jazz classics and he appears at Bath’s Old Theatre Royal with saxophonist Tony Kofi and the house trio from the regular St James Wine Cellar vaults sessions.
Highly Re:freshing – Nubya Garcia
It may see the end of the Bath Festival but the Bank Holiday weekend heralds Stroud Jazz 2018, a three day festival just up the M5 that has impressively grown in stature over the years. This year’s programme includes pianist Ivo Neame, Jazz re:freshed rising sax star Nubya Garcia and local legends Get The Blessing and Dakhla Brass (now with added double bass). The Bath Fringe Festival kicks off, too, with Pee Wee Ellis in conversational mode (Saturday 26, The Edge, Bath University) likely to be a fascinating opportunity to hear about his life in jazz.
Radar Men From Outer Space (actually, from Eindhoven)
Meanwhile, if you’re wondering where the wild things are this week you could check The Lanes on Wednesday (23) when Eindhoven’s neo-psych Radar Men From The Moon headline an evening of improvisational electronics acts or maybe catch ambient improvisers Traumki at the Old England’s Anti-Folk night (Friday 25). There’s also the Exchange’s weekly Sunday ‘matinee jazz show’ which this week features the seasoned collaboration of guitarist Phil Gibbs with Paul Anstey on bass and Roger Telford drumming.
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