Review: Danilo Perez

Danilo Perez Trio
(Ronnie Scott's, May 16th 2011, first night of two)

We learn rules, immutable laws. Because they help us to make sense of the world and our place in it. For some it is the three laws of thermodynamics. For others, perhaps, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. For many, the mere fact that their are two teams of eleven players, of whom one on each team can handle a spherical ball 27-28 inches in circumference.

And then there are phenomena on this earth which don't need those externally imposed rules, they can follow their own. They are competely free. Like the left hand of Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez.

Perez has been the regular pianist of that sanspareil supergroup, the Wayne Shorter Quartet. But what is remarkable about Perez' playing in the trio he has had for the past nine years with bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz is the extent to which all three players are rhythmically let off the leash. And yet their music-making has constant propulsion, forward momentum, the trio land together, con forza, on a dime, and people in the audience can naturally groove along to it. The trust, the watchfulness of this group defy belief and confound expectation.

In some tunes, a beautifully limpid Besame Mucho, for example or particularly a triumphally declaimed Monk's Ask Me Now the tunes were stated in a transparent 4/4, but then, progressively, the pulse, the harmonic rhythm would be subverted.

They are in town for one more night. Go.

Support tonight was from vocalist Polly Gibbons with the fine trio of James Pearson on piano, Laurence Cottle on bass and Pedro Segundo drums. Highlights were Gibbons' touching, emotional performance of Phoebe Snow's "Something Real (Before I Die)", and the trio's infectious propulsive backbeat groove to "I wish I knew" which rounded off their short set.

Review: Christian McBride's Inside Straight

Christian McBide's Inside Straight
(Ronnie Scott's, May 7th 2011, late set)

Is there anyone else out there like me, with a weakness for tales of perseverance receiving its reward?

The story starts two years ago, when Christian McBride, this week's Ronnie Scott's headliner, was last visiting London. He gave a masterclass at Guildhall School. He told the students how, as a seventeen year-old, he had got his first job with Freddie Hubbard's band: by learning how to play as many Freddie Hubbard tunes as he could find. Pianist Gabriel Latchin, one of the students in that masterclass made sure he heeded McBride's advice. What he's been doing in the past two years has been to learn a whole raft of Christian McBride tunes. Last night, with every seat in Ronnie Scott's taken for the late set, his moment came....

McBride: So what would you like to play?

Latchin: (shrug)

McBride : You're our guest, you get to call the tune. It can be whatever you like.

Latchin: (inaudible)

McBride: (astonished): He wants to play one of mine. "The Shade of the Cedar Tree."

Latchin clearly enjoyed his moment on the last set of McBride's three-night residency at Ronnie Scott's, and acquitted himself fine in thee tune dedicated to Cedar Walton from the 2004 album Gettin' To It (above).

The 100 Greatest Jazz Albums site defines well what McBride is aiming at with the 2009 album "Kind of Brown" - and with the Inside Straight quintet: to produce: "upbeat, straight-ahead jazz with a strong bebop feel and swing." There have been changes in personnel since that album, but the spirit is the same. As an agenda, that may not be enough for some commentators. There were moments last night when the band settled back into an in-the-pocket swing tempo - the closer, Zawinl's Mercy, Mercy, Mercy a case in point, when the joy in communicating is its own fulfilment.

As McBride himself pointed out, the key relationship is that of bassist and drummer. and in Ulysses Owens Jr., McBride clearly has a feisty and positive sparring partner. Pianist Peter Martin plays with descriptive colour, and McBride was to be seen benignly at Martin's attempts to pull the first beat away from true, as if on a piece of elastic. Vibes-player Warren Wolf Jr. played punchily and challengingly, and alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw played and communicated well, but sometimes looks disconcertingly detached.

McBride as presence and charisma, and a highly persuasive approach to communicating melody. There are few tunes in the standards repertoire with gaps quite as gaping as those in "East of the Sun," so McBride's way to make the sustained notes sing, to hold the line, was masterly.

Support band the Sammy Mayne Quartet were at their best in "You're My Everything." Phil Robson on guitar as first soloist set the agenda by thinking radically yet subtly, flexibly yet teasingly across the beat, and throwing out a rhythmic challenge which next soloist Sammy Mayne duly picked up. Sam Burgess on bass gave a sprininess to the 3/4 version of "The Way You Look Tonight." Drummer Pedro Segundo, increasingly a treasured presence at Ronnie's, unfailingly brought out smiles from the band, and spontaneous applause from the audience each and every time he got a feature.


www.ronniescotts.co.uk

Review: Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt Rosenwinkel
(Ronnie Scott’s, 18th April 2011 -first night of two - review by Tom Gray)

The notable presence of young, attentive listeners in this Ronnie’s audience spoke volumes about Kurt Rosenwinkel’s influence among the next generation of up-and-coming musicians. As he demonstrated here, he unquestionably belongs in a select group of guitarists including John Scofield and Bill Frisell, who, through a skilful synthesis of technique and electronic effects, have crafted a deeply personal sound that would rarely trouble anyone in a blindfold test.

On this gig, Rosenwinkel headed up a quartet which paced itself like a pack of elite marathon runners during a set of serious post-bop originals spanning nearly two hours. For the first four numbers, the tempos of the tunes barely exceeded a gentle canter, yet the brawny and unpretentious playing of Eric Revis on bass and Justin Faulkner on drums maintained a slow-burning intensity, which later progressed into a full-on simmer on the samba undertow of ‘Brooklyn Sometimes’. This is a rhythm section who make it emphatically clear about where ‘one’ is in each bar, which served the music well in this case.

The rather oblique heads of some of Rosenwinkel’s tunes came and went fleetingly, barely registering in the memory. This brought the improvisation into much sharper focus, and with some meaty and unconventional harmonic progressions to get stuck into, Rosenwinkel and the impressive Aaron Parks on piano stretched out, showcasing their contrasting approaches. Rosenwinkel favoured effusive and densely contoured phrases of sustained notes which sung through like a horn player’s lines and he occasionally allowed himself the odd flourish of metal-head guitar heroics. Parks, on the other hand, constructed his more spacious solos with Zen-like restraint, avoiding the merest hint of cliché or a half-baked idea. It is not hard to see why Kit Downes is a fan.

Compared to Rosenwinkel’s nonchalantly breezy playing with his standards trio, this music demanded a significant investment of patience from the listener. The pay-off—which became more and more apparent as the tempos finally broke free of their shackles towards the end—was a thrillingly absorbing set that was about as good as a guitar-led ensemble can get.

ronniescott's.co.uk

Review: Storms/ Nocturnes

Storms/Nocturnes
(Ronnie Scott's, April 5th 2011, 2nd night of 2, review by Frank Griffith, Photo credit: Eric Richmond)

The Storms/Nocturnes trio, which was celebrating the release of its new CD, "VIA" on Origin Records, is composed of the "3000 Mile Club" (the distances between their respective domiciles) of jazz pianist, Geoffrey Keezer (San Diego), vibist, Joe Locke (New York City) and multi-reedist, Tim Garland (Whitley Bay), who make up a completely equal triumvirate of contributors to this most egalitarian of groups.

The ten original compositions (most of which were performed at Ronnie's) on the CD all refer to specific locations, and were introduced and described eloquently by the composers. This is far from the "hey, let the music speak for itself" approach often taken by somewhat shy, sullen and inarticulate performers. Joe Locke, in particular, one who is not afraid to expound fully, told colourful and engaging tales of his inspirational locales. One of which, "Miramar" went into detail of how this well respected California music venue evolved from its humble beginnings in 1959.

The abundant energy of this group produced not just sheets of shimmering sound, but also moments of simmering heat. Their interaction brought a spiky rhymical pointillism that quickly put paid to any risk of over-presence of the silky smoothness that - one might assume - could easily result from such an instrumentation. We are not talking the George Shearing Quintet minus two here. The combination of their unique sonic harmony and perpetually moving together throughout leaves the listener astounded at the imposing scale of the sound that they produce. Stunning stuff. While one might question the absence of bass, percussion and amplifiers I found this void to open up other "aural pathways" and entrances to the unique sonorities of these well matched voices.

The virtuosity and command of so many musical idioms amongst this group is simply spellbinding. The technical mastery of Garland's soprano and tenor sax is evenly countered by his more reflective and brooding bass clarinet. This brought about a welcome change of seasons to the world tour if you will. The sparkle and punch offered by Messrs Keezer and Locke result in their four hands (and feet) tantamount to a full orchestra's worth of sound.

Special mention to guest vocalist, Jacqui Dankworth, who sang "It Happens Quietly" composed by her late father Sir John Dankworth, with the trio. This melody with Mancini-like influences (from a 1968 movie score) brought the first set to a somewhat pensive close thanks to Jacqui's simple, direct and heartfelt delivery which was equally supported by Keezer's sensitive interpretation as well.

Not to be left out, mucho plaudits to the wonderful Tom Cawley Trio providing heat before and after the Main Attraction. Tom's characteristic self-deprecating remarks ("you're REALLY hear to check out Geoff, I know...) fell on deaf ears says this scribe as their unique treatments of jazz standards like "Dolphin Dance, What Is This Thing Called Love" and "Billies Bounce" demonstrated an elastic and unpredictable group interplay that was not only refreshing but did not take a back seat to anyone else performing that night.

Review: Ron Carter, Mulgrew Miller, Russell Malone

Ron Carter, Mulgrew Miller and Russell Malone
(Ronnie Scott’s, 29th March, Second night of two, Review by Tom Gray)

Of all the alumni from Miles Davis’s 1960s quintet, Ron Carter is the one who has most fully embraced the tradition in his subsequent career, looking back at and refining styles which were superseded by that group’s radical innovations.

This Ronnie’s gig was a case in point, with the bassist at the helm of a piano-guitar-bass trio, a configuration made popular first by Nat King Cole and then Oscar Peterson. But as he reminded an enraptured full house, his music remains no less distinctive or spell-binding than any of Miles’s other sidemen.

Even when flanked by two of America’s first-call instrumentalists — pianist Mulgrew Miller and guitarist Russell Malone — the bassist's tall, graceful figure, occupying the centre of the stage, commanded attention throughout. Each note was caressed from his instrument with warmth and near-faultless intonation, while his unerring sense of time was often mesmerising. This is a musician who has appeared on literally thousands of recordings, yet whose sense of adventure appears undimmed, whether selecting notes for a walking bass-line or during the hallmark glissandos scurrying triplets and Bach quotes from his solos.

Over two set consisting largely of ballads, bossas and mid-tempo swingers (‘My Funny Valentine’ and ‘Soft Winds’ were the most obviously recognizable standards), Miller and Malone provided support befitting of their super-sidemen status. During the interval I was surprised to learn from one pianist more in-the-know than me that Miller had recently suffered a stroke; thankfully that didn’t really appear to affect his performance, which included some dazzlingly eloquent solos and characteristically tasteful comping. Malone’s clipped sound and bluesy licks may not be to all tastes, but what really impressed was his dynamic sensitivity and how he locked perfectly in step with Carter to almost hypnotic effect at a few points.

In a recent radio interview for BBC Radio 3's Jazz Library, Carter told Alyn Shipton, “I don’t think we play it backwards in terms of the way guys used to play…it would be difficult not to get upset if someone said, ‘Hey man, that’s old music!’”. I doubt anyone in this Ronnie’s audience would level that accusation at him after he had made such a compelling case for his approach being just as vibrant and relevant to the twenty-first century as any other.(Photo: Dino Perrucci)

Review: Joyce Moreno

Joyce Moreno
(Ronnie Scott's, March 24th 2011, Review by Sofia Wilde)

Rio-born Joyce Moreno is one of Brazil’s most revered singer-songwriters. In a career spanning forty years, she has recorded over twenty solo albums and been nominated for three Latin Grammy awards.

"To play bossa nova you have to be able to play well softly as much as loudly”, the ‘father of bossa nova’ - Joao Gilberto - once said. This is precisely what Joyce and her band do so well. The music breathes; it ebbs and flows and teases the listener with rollercoaster rises and falls in tempo and dynamics.

From the very first number ‘A Banda Maluca’ (The Crazy Band), the band were out to prove just how crazy they could get. Helio Alves on piano, Rodolpho Stoeter on bass and husband and collaborator, Tutty Moreno on drums all performed with absolute mastery. It was impossible not to want to move. Ronnie’s has a great atmosphere but I can only imagine the enthusiasm in a venue where there’s room to dance. The rhythm and energy the band exude seems to come so naturally one would like to believe that they were simply ‘born that way.’ During one of Helio’s absurdly brilliant solos, a Brazilian musician sat next to me was prompted to say, "I think I’ll give up".　

Joyce's voice has a breathtaking tone and wonderfully percussive inflections, but she’s also an extremely accomplished guitarist, composer and interpreter. Playing her trademark back-to-front pipe cleaner guitar, she went on to perform several of her own compositions, the highlight for me being ‘Caymmi Vista Tom’, a song that imagines Tom Jobim and Dori Caymmi meeting in heaven. Then there were compositions by Brazilian heavyweights, Johnny Alf, Vinicius de Moraes, Baden Powell and of course Tom Jobim. Joyce performing ‘Águas de Março’ on her own was another highlight.

Being half-Portuguese, I appreciate the lyrical content of the songs, and love philosophical musings such as: "Medo de amar, nao faz feliz a ninguem" - "Afraid of loving, doesn’t make anybody happy" and "Preciso aprender os mistérios do mundo prá te ensinar" – "I need to learn the mysteries of the world so I can teach you". Inspiring lyrics like this feed the soul, and lift the heart. In English there was ‘Slow Music’ - written by Joyce and Robin Goldsby - with a gem of a line: “time doesn’t fly, it flows”. It’s a song inspired by ‘Slow Food’ a movement promoting good, clean and fair food. Joyce recommends we savour those same things in music instead of swallowing ‘junk music’.

This was her annual one-date gig in Great Britain - she's also appearing in Belfast on this trip. She's in her early sixties, so let's hope she keeps on touring, and that the UK stays on her itinerary. What a treat.

Review: Marlene VerPlanck

Marlene VerPlanck
(Ronnie Scott's, March 6th 2011)

Sometimes just one phrase of a song can open the window onto a singer's whole lifetime of musicality, stagecraft and accumulated wisdom.

Marlene Verplanck has certainly had a full lifetime in music. In her early twenties she was already recording on the Savoy label with Hank Jones. She had spells with Charlie Spivak's band and with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, where she met her husband, the trombonist-arranger Billy VerPlanck. In the ensuing decades she was seldom out of a recording studio, and America got to know her voice from jingles for Michelob beers and Campbell's Soups.

But that one phrase which is going to stay with me is from Lerner and Loewe's "The Heather on the Hill" from 1954.

After the words "There may be other days as rich and rare/There may be other springs as full and fair/ But they won't be the same--they'll come and go"...

..comes the simple four-word statement: "For this I know."

VerPlanck, as the music dictates, leaves a gap before the words "I know." But that caesura allows her to come back with a sense of certainty, affirmation and finality which perhaps no other singer can match. Yes, one has to agree: she knows.

Marlene Verplanck also knows that every word is going to be heard: she has astonishingly clear diction. Every syllable comes across with the limpidity of a mountain stream. The voice, unsurprisingly, does show the occasional sign of strain. She may look years - no, decades - younger, but she is in fact now in her mid seventies. However, once the listener latches on to those triumphant moments when the head goes back, or when the hand (or fist) is slightly raised, and hears words sung unforgettably with life-affirmation and indomitable optimism, then what Verplanck does which is special and unique becomes obvious.

Ira Gershwin's lyrics to "There's No Holding Me" from 1946 require the vocalist to walk credibly on air, and not just to find rainbows, but also to climb them. With VerPlanck you don't just hear, you can believe every word.

"I've Got You Under My Skin," was performed in an attractive but intricate arrangement by Billy Verplanck. Here the common purpose of singer and trio gave form and shape to the song. It started pianissimo, and then just grew steadily and inexorably in volume and in intensity. From where I sat Bobby Worth was out of view, so it was completely impossible to tell from the mere sound at what point in the ascent he made the transition from brushes to sticks - it just suddenly seemed to have happened, by magic. Pianist John Pearce was digging progressively deeper and deeper into the keys and eliciting more and bigger sound.

Pearce was also to the fore in a homage by Verplanck to the late great George Shearing, "All in Fun," which Verplanck recorded with Shearing.

Bassist Paul Morgan shared the spotlight in one moment of really deep emotion. It went unmentioned at the gig, but Billy VerPlanck, Marlene's husband and inseparable companion of 52 years, died in June 2009 after a battle against lung cancer. (There is a heartfelt tribute to him on her website). Knowing this background, Johnny Mercer's words to Trav'lin' Light- when sung with the clarity and purposful musicianship of Marlene VerPlanck - take on an astonishing poignancy:

I'm trav'lin' light
Because my man has gone
And from now on
I'm trav'lin' light.

He said goodbye
And took my heart away
So from today
I'm trav'lin' light.

No one to see
I'm free as the breeze
No one but me
And my memories.

Some lucky night
He may come back again
But until then
I'm trav'lin' light.

These words, this singer need to be heard.

Marlene Verplanck is currently on a UK tour with several dates- DETAILS HERE - the last of which is a return to London to the Pheasantry in Kings Road SW3 on March 27th. Bookings at pizzaexpresslive.co.uk

Marlene Verplanck's most recent CD is One Dream At A Time (Audiophile ACD 340)

UPDATE: Downbeat's 150 Best Jazz Rooms

UPDATE: HERE'S THE VORTEX PROUDLY DISPLAYING ITS BADGE!



(Back to our original story) Congratulations to four London clubs -

- Ronnie Scott's, Pizza Express Dean Street, 606 Club and Vortex -

all four appear in Febuary 2011 Downbeat's list of the world's "150 best jazz rooms." There are only 28 listed outside North America. (And on the subjects of jazz - and getting a room - the photo above was taken at Jazz Alley in Seattle, also listed by Downbeat, by Jenny Jimenez)

Gwyneth Herbert - Clangers and Mash

Sarah Ellen Hughes went to the launch of Gwyneth Herbert's Clangers and Mash (Naim) earlier this week. Here's her report:

Gwyneth Herbert's new release Clangers and Mash (Naim) has nine tracks, and a total of six songs . It is in the indistinct area between the backdrop for a single and an album.

She writes about it: "I wanted to do something a bit different to mark the release of our new single, Perfect Fit, so I scrabbled around for a few backstage scrapings and asked a handful of my lovely and varied musician friends to present some Herbert tracks as they'd never been heard before . The result is Clangers and Mash: bleepy, tappy, pleasureful earfood to tickle your bellies. Tuck in."

The PR message I picked up is that Herbert is progressively moving away from the "jazz singer," label into more mainstream singer-songwriter territory. It's not surprising that this takes time, particularly as her attention gets waylaid by ambitious - and highly successful- projects such as the film score she recently wrote for The Patsy - reviewed by Alyn Shipton HERE　
　
She is indeed an extremely versatile singer and songwriter. The new single was catchy, and striking for its use of harmonied vocals. Her voice is powerful, raw, achy and intimate all at the same time, particularly in "So Worn Out" (Temper D Remix) and she sings with that same sense of maturity and experience that you find in Joni Mitchell’s later recordings.

As a performer - I went to the preview of the new release at Ronnie Scott’s Bar on Wednesday - she has a fun and feisty way of getting her songs across. Her poetic lyrics and charismatic delivery marry well, creating an intimate yet totally relaxed atmosphere in this crowded bar. Her stage craft is faultless – from a commanding glance right down to a perfectly place ‘pop’ noise following the lyric "Silver bangles and a popped balloon" in Annie’s Yellow Bag. Ah, I thought, that’s what the balloon was for.

Gwyneth Herbert is a lively and charismatic performer, a songwriter who is building her songbook at her pace. And one definitely doesn't forget that sassy combo of the ukulele and the killer heels...

Review: Kenny Barron Trio

Kenny Barron Trio
(Ronnie Scott's, February 10th 2011, first night of three)

A God can do that. According to the poet Rilke*, Gods sneak off to places where mortals can't follow them by disappearing through the gaps between the strings of a lyre. I can't vouch for how he got there, (Kenny Barron is quite a big guy), but in the Englishman Ray Noble's tune from 1934, "The Very Thought of You," Barron reached a special zone, and was on a noumenal plane. The beauty and perfection of his every single touch of the piano, the freedom, weightlessness and effortlessnesss of a breeze of melodic fragments just floating off was something unforgettable. In those wonderful moments Barron was indeed God-like.

But this was an evening of contrasts when moments of fluency and ease seemed to alternate with the less comfortable. The breakneck (crotchet = 280) tempo chosen for original New York Attitude which opened the second set didn't seem to imply much about the attitude of New York, other than perhaps impatience and perfunctoriness. It just didn't seem to settle - maybe that was the point. Barron hid the first statement of Monk's "Well You Needn't" under spurts of semi-quavers which made it sound like Sonny Rollins' "Airegin", so it came as a relief at the very end to have Monk's clarity and jaunty asymmetry brought to life.

Japanese-born bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa has an extraordinary technique and all kinds of options, aided by what appears to be a third finger as strong if not stronger than the others. His timing is impeccable, but he appeared to have some tuning problems. Drummer Johnathan Blake was given several moments to shine, which he took with style. I found myself sometimes uneasy with a tendency to push the first beat quite hard, particularly in the first half closer "Cook's Bay." But these earthbound moments were quickly forgotten, while the memory of those glimpses of deity and perfection will never fade.

The suppport band was John Critchinson on piano, who saluted - and personified - the continuity of Ronnies, with Dave Cliff on guitar, and Alec Dankworth on bass. They fully deserved the affectionate and sincere applause they received. They were also having fun in the closing number, Benny Golson's Blues March trading and bantering the mordent figures from the tune. What civilised conversation.

(*) Rilke: 3rd Sonnet to Orpheus

Kenny Barron will be at Ronnie Scott's tonight February 11th and tomorrow 12th.

Review: Trio Libero (Sheppard/ Benita/ Rochford)

Trio Libero - Andy Sheppard, Michel Benita, Seb Rochford
(Ronnie Scott's, first night of three, January 31st 2011)

French bassist and composer Michel Benita (above)- I've been reading - has always had a mind open to new possibilities, and relishes the joy of the unexpected. He was born in Algiers in 1954, his father having been stationed there by Air France. The family moved back to metropolitan France when he was five, and he went to school in Montpellier. In the heady aftermath of 1968 - which lingered on in the French education system for some years - his first destination after leaving school was to reject the strictures of organized society and to live simply and close to nature in a remote part of Corsica. But by 22 he had completely applied himself, was playing the bass professionally, still based in Montpellier but open to offers to travel. He had a period with the legendary Henri Texier as mentor. By his mid 20's, his subtle strong, meticulously worked bass-playing was attracting the ears of top musicians. . He moved to Paris in 1981, and in 1986 was hand-picked by Francois Jeanneau to form part of the very first Orchestre National de Jazz.

It is such a French trait to welcome paradoxes and opposites. Ever since the "dissertation", with its thesis-antithesis-synthesis structure was introduced into French education in the 1860's, that way of thinking has been something deep in the culture of the educated French. A good, strong bassist anywhere can be exposed to as wide a range of playing situations as he or she wants. But Benita has, in a very French way, thought about it deeply, and made a virtue of the breadth of opportunity which the role offers.

Thus, for example, the erstwhile hippy revolutionary has in recent times constructed the sound for shows by the Hermes fashion house. Recent press coverage of Benita has praised him for stretching beyond the confines of jazz. He has asserted how far he has gone beyond the bass, Commentators have cooed their appreciation of his genre-busting, his explorations of mixed media and his cross-cultural collaborations.

But now, in Trio Libero he is, as ever, doing something subversive, radical, and different. No, he is not genre-busting. Nor is he crossing cultures. Shock, horror, he is not mixing media either. He is simply following Andy Sheppard's genial, humour-infused lead and playing the bass melodically, finding beautiful corners in Sheppard's singable and catchy tunes - and a couple of his own - and simply making good music. Aux barricades, now THAT is revolutionary.

Trio Libero is very much work in progress. To judge by the infectious smiles of Sheppard and the third co-conspirator Seb Rochford, it looks like enjoyable work too. According to Benita's website, spending three days in a cold Dunkerque in January was somehow supposed to give the trio sufficient inspiration to lead them into a studio to make a record for ECM. Well, perhaps either Dunkerque was insufficiently inspiring. Or maybe the three just enjoy the process of collective creation too much. The recording hasn't happened yet.

The tunes are brand new, so the listener gets to eavesdrop on creation. The range of tunes and feels is pleasantly broad. Rubber Necking which opened the first half was a joyous but precisely articulated skittering bebop head; Secret Waltz for Sara was simply expressive; Let Me Tighten You Up brought to the fore Seb Rochford's controlled side, with sit-up-straight military snare drum rolls; Slip Duty, by contrast, set him completely free, non-metric drumming against pattern repetition from the melody instruments. And the encore -a standard- I Get Along Without You Very Well was gorgeously and dreamily reflective. The album on ECM, when it eventually comes.... will be very special.

A very different kind of dream, in fact the bassist's nightmare, happened in the support band set. Sam Burgess looked on stoically, resigned to the brutal fact that his feature Bye Bye Blackbird had just morphed into Bye Bye Bass-Bridge. The vital part had collapsed in the middle of the number, leaving him incapacitated. Until that point it had been a lively set, with both Burgess and James Pearson finding themselves - particularly in an Erroll Garnerish I Remember April buoyed and inspired by the youthful fire of Portuguese drummer Pedro Segundo.

Trio Libero are on tonight Feb 1st and tomorrow Feb 2nd at Ronnie Scotts

Happy Birthday to the Late Late Show at Ronnie's

Fran Hardcastle celebrates the first year of the Late Late Show at Ronnie Scott's

Tomorrow, Tuesday night is the first birthday of what has fast become an institution for us night owls, The Late Late Show at Ronnie Scott's. Apart from being a magnet for musicians finishing gigs, the Late Show has become a place where a lot of young jazzers can get their first break. The Show places musicians of all generations on one plateau. Stan Sulzmann or Jim Mullen can be seen alongside names like Jim Hart, Lewis Wright and Henry Armburg Jennings.

Host Michael Mwenso provides opportunities for young musicians from the jazz courses to be heard. I was recently wowed by two singers from the RAM, Emma Smith and Kwabena Adjepong. Students from the music colleges and from other London universities like UCL and Kings College also come to hang out and learn about the music. I've rarely heard Mwenso announce a tune without providing some interesting titbit about the composer.

If you're lucky (which happens quite frequently), the big names in town will drop by and sit in. In the past year alone, Wynton Marsalis,(above) Robert Glasper, Christian Scott, Ethan Iverson from the Bad Plus, Adam Nussbaum, Jason Rebello and Freddy Cole have all sat in. Joss Stone has also made an appearance. One night, the entire personnel of Michael Buble's Big Band dropped by. Quite regularly, you'll hear a treat from British favourites like Ian Shaw, Cleveland Watkiss or Gwilym Simcock.

Mike Mwenso told LondonJazz: Wynton Marsalis spoke of its rarity saying, "we haven't had anything like this in New York for over twenty years". Jason Rebello sat in recently and commented, "it's just like the old days, but better. People are listening to the music."

So thank you to all of the fantastic musicians who have appeared in the Late Late Show over the past year and kept the party going. Happy Birthday.


The Late Late Show, 11pm - 3am, Mondays to Thursdays, Ronnie Scotts.

Preview: Matt Skelton & Colin Skinner All Stars featuring Anthony Kerr

The Matt Skelton & Colin Skinner All Stars featuring Anthony Kerr.
(Ronnie Scotts, Sunday 31st January, 7.30pm. Preview by Fran Hardcastle. Photo of Matt Skelton by David Sinclair)

Sunday will see a rare London performance from a big band much lauded by fellow musicians. Drummer Matt Skelton of the John Wilson Orchestra, and Back to Basie Orchestra teams up with colleague and Syd Lawrence Orchestra lead alto, Colin Skinner, to create a big band modeled on vibe player Terry Gibbs’ Dream Band.

Skelton and Skinner have hand picked some of the most in demand big band players in the country. Mike Lovatt leads the trumpets, with Gordon Cambell and Andy Wood in the trombone section and Skinner leading the saxes alongside Mark Crooks. Amongst them, they’ve performed with every leading big band on the British Isles.

British Jazz Award winning, popular vibes player Anthony Kerr, known for notable appearances with the BBC Big Band, joins in Gibbs’ chair .

Expect slick, effortless ensemble work. Interpretations of much loved Gibbs charts that will invigorate your Sunday big band ears. Plus soloists more effervescent than alka seltzer.

Review: Get the Blessing/ Beats 'n' Pieces Big Band

Review: Get the Blessing and Beats & Pieces.
(Ronnie Scotts, January 19th 2011, review by Fran Hardcastle)

An double bill of genre-smashing music brought in a young, energetic crowd to Ronnie's on Wednesday night.

The powerful rock-heavy band Get The Blessing got the evening off to a storming start. Former Portishead bass guitarist Jim Barr sets up prog rock bass lines underpinning some hard blowing from Jake McMurchie on saxophone and some sleek trumpet playing from Pete Judge.

The composition style is fresh and very distinctive. Several of the charts seem to fluctuate between aggressive, punky funk and languid St Germain rhythms underpinning seemless lyrical horn lines. A new tune gave us an interesting start from Clive Deamer on drums, swapping sticks for maracas. The two horn players use of the loop pedal to create siren like effects over the top created a wall of electronic sound. This is music for anyone and everyone. Barr, a man with an anti-establishment offbeat charm frequently introduced the music as being for anyone ‘allergic to jazz’. Following on from the Led Bib and Polar Bear school, it’s music that is hard to categorise and all the better for it.

Manchester big band, Beats and Pieces, making their Ronnie Scott's debut, continued an evening of originality with a riotous start, with a eyebrow raisingly good solo from keys player, Patrick Hurley. Ben Cottrell’s arrangements are infused with electronic effects. The sound is edgy and appealing. The inspiration of the Matthew Herbert Big Band and Orchestre National de Jazz was quite clear to see. The original composition from tenor player Ben Watts gave us a glimpse of a talented young sax section. A combative solo in the Trio VD ilk from soprano player Sam Healey was followed by smooth organic ripplings from Watts.

The vocal chart Broken featured the pre-recorded beautiful voice of Esther Swift to an ethereal ballad. The invisible voice added to the atmosphere of the music, but it was a disappointment to hear her disembodied voice rather than singing live. Presumably it was a cost factor, big bands being unfeasibly expensive to tour. Which is a shame, because bands like this deserve to get out there and be heard.

Another vocalist appearing virtually was Thom Yorke of Radiohead, his vocals delivered by laptop in luscious arrangements of that band's songs which used a rich harmonic palette.

‘I keep him in there for special occasions,’ joked Ben Cottrell. Special occasions like this should happen more often.

Get the Blessing are on tour extensively in France in February and in Germany/Austria in March. DETAILS HERE

Beats n Pieces website has Clive Davis' Times review of the gig..

Bests n Pieces are also finalists for the European Jazz Prize Burghausen 2011

Kenny Lynch at Ronnie Scott's

With the clarity of the Monday morning quarterback, here goes. First-hand study of Kenny Lynch should be made compulsory in music colleges. As his flickering and lively eyes darted to every corner of the room, as he put an audience at its ease and held it completely transfixed, the thought kept coming back: there is so much one can learn just by watching a performer and entertainer in complete command of his craft.

It was like a masterclass. Lunchtime diners put down their cutlery and watched. People suddenly forgot they had January coughs and colds. Maybe there is, after all, no substitute for having more than fifty years in the entertainment business. Kenny Lynch has been everywhere, done everything....but had never headlined at Ronnie's until yesterday, and showed his pride in the moment.

The place was packed. With the impeccable trio of Laurie Holloway (piano- off camera), Dave Olney (left above) and Harold Fisher (right) he demonstrated the craft of constant surprise and engaging story-telling through a range of songs, not the "mature pop," which one listings mag had come up with, but mostly standards, "Weaver of Dreams,", being but one highlight. And, for a man approacing seventy-three, the voice is in very fine shape.



Here's a picture to set the historical context. Lynch was often in the pop charts in 1960-3, with hits like THIS until the four gents above changed things.... There is probably a story why John Lennon on the right is holding Kenny Lynch (photo from Kenny Lynch's WEBSITE)

Only one thought to cloud a happy occasion. There is one cheeky chappy gesture of Lynch's- left hand in pocket, right hand gesturing wildly - which brought an involuntary recollection. Where have we seen a lot more of that gesture recently? Perhaps we currently being governed by a bunch of entertainers....

Preview: Eliane Elias at Ronnie Scotts

Preview: Eliane Elias Quartet at Ronnie Scott's , February 21st - 23rd

I spoke briefly today to Brazilian-American pianist-singer-composer Eliane Elias about her forthcoming visit to Ronnie Scott's. She was last here in September 2009. Here's our (ecstatic) review of a great gig. Eliane Elias needs, demands to be heard.

There's just one difference in personnel on this visit versus 2009: guitarist Rubens de la Corte is replaced by the 26 year old Brazilian Berklee alumnus Ricardo Vogt. On bass is Elias' husband Marc Johnson, on drums again Rafael Barata.

The 2009 visit was themed around the fiftieth anniversary of the bossa nova. Elias sums up her development since then as having "expanded rhythmically," incorporating samba and baião rhythms. I'm sure that's true, but it understates the level at which Elias functions in Brazilian music. Just as Elias, who now describes New York as home, has worked with many of the greats of (North) American jazz, she also operates at the highest level in Brazilian music. Her associations with Jobim and Joao Gilberto are well known, and from the evidence of gigs and records she truly inhabits their music.

Less known perhaps are her collaborations with other composers and singers. The February gig will feature a composition which she co-wrote in the 1980's with one of the greats of baião, Luis Gonzaga Jr, known as Gonzaguinha, who was killed in a car accident in 1991. That tune, Samba Maracatu, is on a new album which has just been recorded. And the guest singer on it is none less than national icon Gilberto Gil. Elias told me that she and Gil - and indeed Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethania...- go back a long way. Indeed for a time she was Gilberto Gil's Musical Director.

I also took the opportunity to get up to date about her current discography.

Something for you (Blue Note / EMI). In 2007 Elias did a tribute to Bill Evans. There is a fascinating story (thanks KW) about an unrecorded Bill Evans tune, which came to light on a cassette tape which Bill Evans gave to Elias' husband and bassist Marc Johnson in the weeks before he died. Elias tells the story HERE on an interview with Bloomberg (after 2:00)

Bossa Nova Stories (Blue Note / EMI) In 2008 she celebrated the (official, Brazilian) 50th aniversary of the Bossa. Half of the tracks are with string orchestra.

Eliane Elias Plays Live (Somethin’Else- Japan EMI 2009-above) A live instrumental set with Marc Johnson and Joey Baron at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam from May 2002, recorded for Dutch radio, is her most recent release. It seems quite hard to track down in the UK.

See text above for details of the forthcoming CD on Universal (France).

At Ronnie Scott's February 21st-23rd