Music / Dave O'Higgins
Review: Dave O’Higgins Quartet, Hen & Chicken
UK saxman Dave O’Higgins has played with giants such as Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles during his career. Tonight sees him and his quartet midway through a huge tour to promote his new album It’s Always 9.30 in Zog.
Fittingly then, not long into the set he plays a Bing Crosby number called Dedicated To You which slows things down a bit, after the cool bossa nova of Chico Chagas’s Brixton and the up-tempo dedication to George Coleman with One For Big G.
Switching between tenor and soprano saxophones O’Higgins’ playing is fluid, strong and controlled, his technical abilities impressive. His band, especially drummer Sebastiaan De Krom, currently also a member of the Tommy Smith Quartet, and who has played with the likes of Herbie Hancock – are tight and adaptable.
is needed now More than ever
Well tight and adaptable doesn’t do De Krom justice really as his playing takes the biscuit tonight for all of O’Higgins’ mastery on the reeds. De Krom, or the ‘Whispering brushes’ as the band refer to him, leads and controls numbers with the deftness and feel of his playing, setting the pace with his brushwork. His controlled scatter on the number Alien With Extraordinary Ability holds things together magnificently.
A great piano break by Rob Barron, who grows into the keyboards as the evening progresses, and O’Higgins’ soprano sax flying over the rhythm, is topped by De Krom’s brilliant solo, taking the drums right down to silence with his brushwork before building up again tantalisingly.
From the lively be-bop of the title track of their new album to a straight-ahead Mona Lisa, the punchy Coltrane and Hancock influence of New Resolution and the delicious, smokey, late night feel of When Sunny Gets Blue, the music is sturdy and flowing.
The late South African jazzer Bheki Mseleku’s Timelessness is atmospheric and rapid with another tour de force of drumming by De Krom. They end with a mix of breezy and languid with Things We Did Last Summer. Approachable and enjoyable jazz played well.
Photo Elfyn Griffith
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