Music / British jazz
When a plan comes together …
If piano trio Yetii look a bit serious then it’s because they have A Plan and it’s all coming to fruition. First, they honed their own impressive brand of improvisation-rich, acoustic, Scandi-flavoured jazz through regular monthly jazz café style nights at the Greenbank. Then they captured that sound in a live recording – Live At The Greenbank (obviously). Now they’re finally taking themselves out on the road from Cornwall to Norfolk and beyond to promote said album. It’s a big step, as pianist and composer Alex Veitch is well aware: “This tour will be almost the first time Yetii will have played outside the Greenbank so we’ve carefully chosen venues that will be good for our music – nice audiences, nice pianos. There’s a couple that even have Steinway grands!”
For Alex the planning goes way back before the band got together, however. Six years ago, having finished a Masters course at London’s Guildhall, he moved down to Bristol and immediately started looking around for a suitable venue that would suit an acoustic jazz trio. The Greenbank came top of his list, so all he then had to do was find the other musicians. When his path crossed with drummer Alex Goodyear at jam sessions they quickly found a musical rapport and bumping into bass player Ashley John Long at gigs provided the third piece of the jigsaw. Playing together as the Alex Veitch Trio things soon gelled for the three improvisers and thus Yetii was born. “It had become a very collaborative project so we knew it had to have a name.” Alex V recalls. “ We went for Yetii because it makes you smile a bit and it evokes a picture of space, the desolate landscape where the yeti lives. Putting the extra i was us adding our own twist.”
Finding the music to play was no problem thanks to Alex’s prolific discipline as a composer – he spends hours every day writing new material. “I start getting music together for Yetii 10 days before our (Greenbank) gigs and write a song a day. I always get it done. Normally I don’t have anything in mind when I sit down to compose – something will just come out and when it’s written I think ‘this goes with Yetii’. Now I have many, many books full of my own compositions. It’s very motivating knowing they will soon be played to a room full of people.” And, indeed, the Greenbank sessions have reliably sold out, with a loyal audience who come back each month, hence the need for fresh material: “I don’t think they would come back if we did the same set every time!”
is needed now More than ever
The band’s style owe’s much to European jazz piano influences, notably players like the late Esbjörn Svensson, with a strong emphasis on the interplay between the musicians as they deconstruct the tunes. But, equally, their sound had to be shaped for that home venue and, with the others playing without amplification, there’s inevitably a a pressure on drummer Alex Goodyear to restrain his sound. It’s something his wide range of playing experience means he handles that with ease, however. “I think Alex plays almost the entire album on brushes.” Alex V explains. “ We had to balance our acoustic sound with the room and if he used sticks we would have to take our sound up a lot. But he’s so versatile – he’ll be playing funk one night, then boogie woogie the next, then he’s off on tour with John Law – he does it all!”
Yetii: Alex Veitch, Alex Goodyear, Ashley John Long (Pic: Ethnie Foulkes)
With Live At The Greenbank finally released for streaming on November 24 (and also available through Bandcamp as CD or download) and gigs across the country already under way Yetii can reflect on a milestone year. It’s been hard work, for sure, but it must be satisfying to know that the plan has come together. The only question will be – what next?
You can find Yetii – Live At The Greenbank on Bandcamp
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