Music / Jazz
The week in Jazz May 7 – 13
Phew, what a scorcher! And that’s not just the aftermath of an excellent Cheltenham Jazz Festival, nor merely the sizzling weather – it’s a packed week around the Bristol jazz scene, too. One important visitor is Art Themen, a tenor sax player who was one of the first big names on the British modern jazz radar in the 60s. His long partnership with the seminal pianist Stan Tracey marked (and led) the evolution of the music on this side of the pond yet somehow he also managed to maintain his career as an orthopaedic surgeon. For his trip to the Fringe (Wednesday 9) he’s playing with the great pianist Huw Warren, multi-instrumental bass player Percy Pursglove and irrepressible drummer Tony Orrell. Hot stuff, indeed.
Sam Crockatt
Saxophonist Sam Crockatt is one of the stars of a much younger generation who owe a lot to Art and his contemporaries and Sam crops up himself at the Fringe for a special Bank Holiday Monday Jazz Rendezvous session celebrating no-nonsense tenor sax master Hank Mobley. Since emerging from the influential Loop Collective Sam has been seen alongside John Law and others as well as leading his own impressively all-star quartet.
Yas Clarke looking for Palm Oil
The week’s free agenda also starts with a bang on Bank Holiday Monday (Monday 7) when arcane experimentalist Don Mandarin headlines a lunchtime event. That could be a nice warm-up for the Old England later when blowout cornet player Iceman Furniss brings his quartet to join electro-constructivist Ocean Floor and others on a bill to celebrate Richard Howarth’s birthday. Harry Furniss also shows up as one of four experimental and improvising musicians at Cafe Kino (Friday 11), the others being producers Matthew Richards and Carter and ambient bassist Kevin Buckland. And the Stag & Hounds welcomes G.O.A.N. #2 (Sat 12), a second helping of the unpredictable with sound artist Yas Clarke’s subtle (and Radio 3 pleasing) Palm Oil bound to be a highlight.
is needed now More than ever
Ollie Moore (left) in his Pigbag days
Remember Pigbag? The band’s errant saxophonist Ollie Moore shows up at the Exchange’s ‘Sunday matinee’ (13) in the company of Glaxo Baby bass player Dan Catsis, longstanding free musician Hugh McBride on bass and Aidan Searle, sometime drummer of Our Violet Hour (look it up, young ‘uns!). What that will sound like is anybody’s guess, but you could maybe restore order later at Crofter’s Rights where Poly-Math headline an evening of math rock and prog.
Dom Franks
Though Cheltenham saxophonist Dom Franks (Future Inn, Thursday 10) called his quartet Strayhorn after the pianist and composer who was Duke Elington’s right hand man for thirty years the music they play is actually mostly original, composed by Dom with pianist Alex Steele, but aspires to the kind of melodic clarity and elegance that was Billy Strayhorn’s trademark. You could say the same about pianist Andy Nowak’s self-penned work, though he doesn’t claim such distinguished musical ancestry for his A.N.t trio (Bebop, Friday 11) with Al Swainger (bass) and Matt Fisher (drums). It’s a new line-up that anticipate’s Al’s visit to the club next week with his Chick Corea project.
Alex Taylor (left) in a previous life as part of The Evil Eye
Down at El Rincon it’s a violin themed week, with house fave John Pearce popping on Saturday (12) while new combo Zero Day Jazz make their debut on Thursday (10). Zero Day Jazz is the partnership of pianist Jim Blomfield with violinist Alex Taylor, two classical musicians who developed into jazz players and who share the influences of Miles Davis, Bill Evans and John Coltrane.
House of Waters
Once upon a time the Bath Music Festival always featured a weekend of top international jazz talent but, sadly, it no longer offers that luxury. There are still odd treats scattered across its programme, however, and one is definitely the highly original House of Waters trio from New York (Komedia, Sunday 13) whose global sound centres on the dazzling hammered dulcimer of Max ZT and whose live reputation across the pond is enormous.
And, finally … for those who want groovy dance music with a solid core of musical intelligence there’s the hip-hop inspired Herbaliser (Fleece, Monday 7), Brooklyn’s Bhangra fusioneers Red Baraat (Louisiana, Tuesday 8) and Afro-Latin funksters SOMA (Canteen, Friday 11).
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