Bristol’s month in jazz – January 2025

So here we go … and if Santa brought you skates instead of that six-CD Miles Davis box set you’d better get them on pretty quick because the Jazz New Year starts with a bang.

The star-studded Bath Jazz Weekend opens on Friday 3 with trumpeter Laura Jurd’s smart new quartet headlining. The event runs to Sunday evening with a packed programme ranging from saxophonist Dee Byrne’s avant jazz Outlines sextet to Larry Stabbins in improvising mode via Scottish traditionalists Secret Path Trio and UK guitarist par excellence Rob Luft (pictured above).

There’s plenty more, too, and it’s a promising fanfare to another year of great jazz.

The Be-Bop Club at the Hen and Chicken has an impressive first month, starting with Andy Hague’s excellent Double Standards quartet (Thursday 9) followed by saxophonist Alex Merritt’s great new quartet (Thursday 16) which also features pianist Elliot Galvin, last seen in Bristol as part of Shabaka Hutchings’ spellbinding performance in St Mary Redcliffe church.

Saxophonist Sam Crockett (Thursday 23) brings his tight trio with Henryk Jensen’s bass and Dave Smith drumming and the month rounds off with the return of the John Lloyd Quartet (Thursday 30). John’s expressive contemporary tenor sax is beautifully balanced by the great John Law’s piano playing.

The Fringe Jazz programme has two energetic events this month: ever-popular alto sax man James Morton (Bristol Music Club, Wednesday 22) and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Figes’ You Are Here celebration of Keith Tippett’s music brought to life by an exceptional sextet.

Back in the 80s the all-female Guest Stars were a defiant riposte to the male dominated jazz scene. Their vibrant mix of world and jazz grooves was propelled by Alison Rayner’s forceful bass underpinning Dierdre Cartwright’s soaring guitar lines. The pair are still collaborating in Alison’s ARQ quintet (Beacon, Sunday 19) showcasing music from their soon-to-be-released album.

Like Dierdre, Tony Rémy (The Bell, Monday 6) is a well-established powerful fusion guitarist with a strongly rhythmic style. There’s yet another jazz guitar-led outfit at The Grain Barge (Tuesday 14) courtesy of the Jonny Westhorp Electric Trio.

The Fringe, meanwhile, has a string of vocal performers starting with Marvin Muoneke’s classic Great American Songbook style (Thursday 2), followed by the soul-jazzers Chloe et Al (Thur 16) and Belle’s Trio (Friday 31).

The Stag and Hounds Sunday jam sessions will be led by trumpet star Jonny Bruce (Sunday 12), tenor sax man Sam Crockett (Sunday 19) and trombonist Joe Bradford (Sunday 26).

There’s some very distinctive vocal performers on the January menu, with an unfortunate clash between commanding soul-jazz diva Lady Blackbird (Beacon, Friday 31) and the Shephali Frost Ensemble (Cotham Club, Cotham Parish Church, Friday 31). Shephali is an Indo-British performer who draws on a rich blend of South Asian singing traditions for her world-jazz fusions.

And there’s also the return of another great voice to The Fringe with Joanna Swann & The Hounds of Lounge (Sunday 12): Jo Swann’s art-pop band Ilya was a big thing around the Millennium time thanks to her rich and powerful vocal stylings.

Fans of Snazzback will already be onto Rwkus, their cool hip-hop inspired sibling (Canteen, Friday 3) but may not yet have discovered Green Beans (Canteen, Saturday 4). The latter also includes keyboard player Hal Sutherland as well as fellow Snazzers Eli JItsuto and Dave Sanders on guitar and sax for ‘reimagined hip-hop classics and original music’.

Over at Mr Wolf’s that night (Satirday 4) there’s jazz-reggae fusion from CCTV Allstars and later in the month they’re hosting ‘alt-funk’ outfit Horses On The Beach (Saturday 18).

Out on the left field, Moonhaze’s night of ambient soundscapes (Mount Without, Thursday 9) features dreampop trio Jabu collaborating with minimalist Memotone, ballet dancer Millie Vigars and participatory live art.

The Cube’s evening of Piano For Palestine (Wednesday 15) is a triple bill of solo performers: Get The Blessing trumpeter Pete Judge (increasingly recognised for his contemporary classical piano compositions), experimental organ virtuoso Huw Morgan and composer/pianist Sandie Middleton. As the headline suggests, the event is raising money for aid to Palestinians.

L’Étoile Studio hosts another night of experimental and improvised music (Saturday 25) headed by Portuguese trumpeter Luīs Vicente’s duo with bass player Olie Brice and also featuring the pairing of Tina Hitchens and Matthew Grigg and a solo from ‘mains electricity wrangler’ Rim ACD.

Berlin-based vocal ensemble B O D I E S occupy a space between contemporary classical and melodic pop music with their Beacon performance (Monday 27) a rare UK appearance. And the Cube’s latest Liquid Library night (Wednesday 29) includes ‘glitched out baile funk’, freak folk primitivism and vocal drone manipulation … you have been warned.

There’s no shortage of jams, of course, with The Old England’s weekly Community Jam Collective (Tuesday 7 onwards),  Mr Wolf’s Donut Filler (Wednesday 8/22/29) and the Stag & Hounds Sunday sessions.

The Fringe has the Hot Club Jam (Monday 6), Peanut Butter Jam (Monday 13) and Jazz Rapport Jam (Monday 20). The Canteen hosts the Stone Cold Funk Jam (Tuesday 7/21), Slapdash (Tuesday 14), and the Canteen Latin Session (Wednesday 15).

The Jam Jar has their monthly The Door Is Ajar night (Saturday 25) and the Crafty Egg launches a regular monthly Mint Jam session (Thursday 16).

The Canteen’s jam session is hosted by Bristol’s wild boys of funk, Stone Cold Hustle – photo: Susan Neville

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