Review: Bath Jazz Weekend, Widcombe Social Club

At last – after a two year wait the excellent Bath Jazz Weekend has returned to launch the new year with a ray of hopeful sunshine. It was a shame that train strikes meant the Bristol jazz community was less well represented on the Friday and Saturday but Sunday’s capacity crowd saw most of the usual suspects well rewarded for making the journey.

Theo May’s Odd Unit (photo: Tony Benjamin)

After an engaging vintage film about Count Basie and Kansas City the Friday evening programme featured L’Esprit du Jazz, accordionist Karen Street’s quartet in a pleasing set of tightly arranged swing and jazz. The music ranged from Galliano musette tunes to Scottish folk style and a smoky rendition of The Way You Look Tonight from bass-playing vocalist Charlie Pyne. They were followed by exuberant young violinist Theo May, a virtuoso player combining classical and jazz language into an emotionally charged free-flowing fusion. Among his set of original tunes Under The Earth stood out from its neo-classical fugue opening through a rich call and response spell with Greg May’s clarinet and Gustavo Clayton-Marucci’s bass clarinet while Will Bracken’s strong-handed piano gathered the music together. It was clear that Theo is a burgeoning talent, both for the strength of composition and the range of his virtuoso playing.

Rebecca Nash, Dee Byrne, Nick Malcolm and Paul Michael (photo: Tony Benjamin)

Saturday was, by design, a game of two halves, with the afternoon offering a marked contrast between pianist Rebecca Nash’s highly composed ensemble suite Redefining Element 78 and a set of solo piano improvisations from Matthew Bourne. Rebecca’s project has grown since its 2019 premiere and a recent recording is just being released on Whirlwind Records and for this performance saxophonist Dee Byrne joined the regular line-up. The piece unfolded across an hour of riveting music, with notably great solos from Dee, trumpeter Nick Malcolm, guitarist Jamie Leeming and Rebecca herself but also an excellent use of the ensemble as a whole and its many possible instrumental permutations. Above all it showed Rebecca’s maturity and originality as a composer.

Matthew Bourne (photo: Tony Benjamin)

By contrast, Matthew Bourne engaged with the grand piano with no pre-composed music at all and proceeded to create some spellbinding spontaneous pieces with elements of thunderous cacophony, lyrical melodic flights, hypnotic minimalism and rolling grooves. He even accompanied Nod Knowles while the promoter drew the raffle in dignified silence, mid-set.

Orphy Robinson (photo: Tony Benjamin)

Opening Saturday evening Robert Mitchell’s True Think (pictured at top) were sadly bereft of Swedish vocalist Liselotte Östblom – and thus the words of their songs – but made up for it with extravagant fusion soloing. Zayne Mohammed was particularly impressive on guitar, unleashing dazzling torrents of triplets while Mitchell himself swaggered nicely at times. Orphy Robinson, however, had brought all his vocalists on a hard drive, weaving an improvised soundtrack on solo vibraphone through a sequence of recorded voices unpicking elements of racial awareness. Going from neglected black historical figures to the infamous “Where are you from?” controversy it was all valid stuff, if a little unfocussed.

Paul Dunmall, James Owston, Percy Pursglove, Richard Foote, Timek Joswiak and Steven Saunders (photo: Tony Benjamin)

The evening rounded off with a very big noise: improvising behemoth Paul Dunmall’s latest quintet boosted by regular collaborator Percy Pursglove and delivering a masterclass in collaborative freedom. They kicked off at full tilt, launching a sequence of thrilling moments including a respectful adaptation of John Coltrane’s Peace On Earth that somehow devolved into the Mannish Boy groove. While Paul’s vigorous saxes sparkled throughout some very ear-catching playing by guitarist Steven Saunders was a revelation.

Comfort in Chaos: Jj, Pete Judge, Harriet Riley (photo: Tony Benjamin)

Sunday’s triple bill opened with a remarkable suite for a seven piece jazz/classical ensemble composed by trumpeter Pete Judge and percussionist Harriet Riley around the words of young poet Jj. Comfort in Chaos could have been a grim business, given the subject matter of Jj’s experience of childhood abuse and consequent mental health issues. However, the defiant power of her writing and her assured delivery coupled with some exquisite musical writing and playing to somehow ensure it was a life-affirming celebration. Clever use of the three string players, the warm clarity of Harriet’s marimba and the gentle tones of Pete’s trumpet all contributed to the emotional climate and they were justly rewarded with the weekend’s only standing ovation.

Andrew McCormack (photo: Tony Benjamin)

After so complex a performance Andrew McCormack’s solo piano offered a refreshing simplicity, albeit that his original compositions are cleverly constructed and his improvisational delivery is very much his own. That said, he is clearly aware of the jazz piano heritage and his reading of the standard Dear Old Stockholm ran flawlessly into his own Dreamcatcher in a stream of rippling arpeggios and rich right-hand harmonics.

Dan Moore, Riaan Vosloo, Jake McMurchie, Matt Brown (photo: Tony Benjamin)

And then all that remained was for saxophonist Jake McMurchie to put the icing on the weekend’s cake with his fine quartet including Dan Moore on piano, Riaan Vosloo’s bass and Matt Brown drumming. Opening with Jake’s tune With Grace they set out their stall: a skeletal melodic sequence fleshed out into a rolling riff, a hard-bopping sax outburst giving way to a busy drum-powered piano trio as Dan’s increasingly unhinged soloing yielded to Riaan’s unhurried and reflective bass. Musical personalities established, they maintained a top quality standard throughout, with Jake’s fellow Get The Blessing horn man Pete Judge joining for the GTB’s The Word for Moonlight Is Moonlight, much to the audience’s delight. The original quartet played out on Jake’s And You Are, a brisk Blue Note sounding number that gave both the sax player the chance to nod to his hero Sonny Rollins in a tour de force solo and a thoroughly appreciative audience the perfect upbeat end to the weekend.