Review: Bath Jazz Weekend 2024, Widcombe Social Club

The festivities were over, the champagne corks all cleared up and then, just as the long-awaited ‘bleak midwinter’ seemed about to unleash itself, promoter Nod Knowles rescued the situation with a weekend of really entertaining music. The annual Bath Jazz Weekend has established itself as a crucial fixture in the Bristol jazz calendar and, despite the usual chaos on the railways, plenty of Bristolian jazz fans (and musicians) made it over to the Widcombe Social Club to join in the fun.

Sophie Domaninch, Paul Dunmall, James Owston (pic: Tony Benjamin)

As ever the programme was a mixture of old favourites and new arrivals with the emphasis on quality musicianship. Given that the festival operates on a co-operative basis, with all concerned getting an equal share of any profits made, it was remarkable that two eminent French musicians had asked to be on the bill. Immersed in her long hair, pianist Sophie Domaninch proved an adroit foil for Paul Dunmall’s saxophones. Their richly varied improvising quartet set swept from deeply bluesy resonances through fiery chaos and moody interludes to a gentle resolution. Baritone sax player Francois Corneloup’s duo with pianist Tony Hymas was similarly eclectic. The Frenchman’s nimble playing and velvet tone took the pair through delicate chamber jazz, grooving minimalism and fractured improvisation. Pianist Tony’s exemplary responses and their joint imagination led to some of the weekend’s most breathtaking musical moments.

Middle Eye – Clare Hirst, Miles Danso, Claude Deppa (pic: Tony Benjamin)

There was a similar richness of empathy and imagination in the duo of pianist Alexander Hawkins with sax player Larry Stabbins, the latter’s career very much enjoying a second wind after a decade hiatus from playing. Their musical conversation took many directions including a dazzling cross-rhythmic atonal duet that morphed into a rolling Township groove. Unafraid to be melodic, their capacity to reshape an idea in an instant was awesome. More straightforwardly South African sounds came from trumpeter Claude Deppa and saxophonist Clare Hirst’s Middle Eye quintet, albeit with experimentation in time signatures and swerves into be-bop.

Homestead – Huw Warren, Mali Sheard, George Balmont (pic: Tony Benjamin)

Double bass player Miles Danso shone out in the Middle Eye band, his absolute precision and relentless variation at the core of everything, and the same could be said of George Balmont’s bass guitar as Mali Sheard’s Homestead closed the weekend. This young quintet from London’s Tomorrow’s Warriors – they are all 19 or 20 years old – were short of a pianist due to train failures but gained the more veteran Huw Warren. Saxophonist Mali’s assured compositions showcased her skills both as tunesmith and player and the band’s sound grew impressively through the set to provide a very fitting climax to things.

Huw Warren, Mark Lockheart, Yuri Goloubev Trio (pic: Tony Benjamin)

Of course Huw was not just passing through, and his longstanding partnership with Loose Tube alumnus Mark Lockheart’s sax had been joined by bass player Yuri Goloubev for an elegant and intimate set that included a couple of tributes to the late John Taylor and a lovely Latin-Baroque reading of an Hermeto Pascoal number.

Eschersteps – Andy Christie, Eddie Parker, Andy Tween (pic: Tony Benjamin)

They followed the ever-surprising Eddie Parker – another Loose Tuber in the day – whose new band Eschersteps proved to be a song-based quartet that evoked a Canterbury 70’s festival with echoes of The Incredible String Band, Kevin Ayers and Welsh ‘heavy’ rockers Man. Appropriately clad in an Illuminatus T-shirt, Eddie’s engaging smile and insouciant assurance carried the whole thing off with aplomb, mystical lyrics and all. More seriously, pianist Robert Mitchell’s True Think drew on his politically aware poetry through vocalist Liselotte Östblom, with guitarist Zayn Mohammed ’s fusion solos also harking back. After fractured time-signatures, atmospheric arrangements and socially critical lyrics it was a nice balance when they rounded off with the catchy nu-soul What Say You and In The Air’s jumping R’n’B groove.

Maggie Nichols and Julie Tippets (pic: Tony Benjamin)

If there was an underlying sense of fun behind Eschersteps, that quality was a blatant ingredient in the delightful set from Maggie Nichols and Julie Tippets. Their vocal improvising duo has a long if intermittent history yet always sounds a fresh as ever. The two singers combined sonic exploration and crazy girls’ backchat in a seamless 45-minute display of musical freedom and comic timing. There never has been anything like them – number one in a field of one!

Gas Giants – Will Gregory, Ross Hughes, Tony Orrell (pic: Tony Benjamin)

And the same should be said of another seriously whimsical contribution from the Gas Giants, an act that has gained almost legendary status due to the rarity of its appearances since forming some 30 years ago. The original duo of Will Gregory and Tony Orrell were joined by multi-instrumentalist Ross Hughes for a post-post-modern electro-acoustic feast. They paid due respect to Morricone, Moondog and Albanian folk music yet dragged Bacharach’s Walk On By through a swamp and treated J.S.Bach to a reggae workout. Impeccable musicianship combined with straight-faced humour – what’s not to like?

All in all, then, a post-Christmas chocolate box of all our favourite flavours (and not a turkey amongst them).