Music / Jazz
The week in jazz – Aug 29-Sep 4
Here’s a jazz week that starts with an extreme contrast and ends with a bang when the Youngblood Brass Band return to the Thekla (Saturday 3). Amazingly it’s now 21 years since the Oregon High School band kicked over the traces and reimagined themselves as a hip-hop act and achieved worldwide fame in the 90s. They may look a lot less like college kids these days but the pumping brass sound is as invigorating as ever and the boat should be well and truly rocking. And the contrast? Well that’ll be Bank Holiday Monday (29) when The Old Duke Jazz Festival has its traditional day of …er … traditional jazz while up in Clifton the Fringe is offering Nu Free Plonky Wonky Scritchy Scratchy – a delightfully named feast of purely improvised free music with the regular Fringe Free Music quartet gaining an extra drummer (Roger Skerman) and an extra bass player (Hugh Kirkbride). Take your pick!
In between all that Future Inn restarts after a short summer break with the eclectically influenced duo Towndrow & Hamilton (Thursday 1), comprising Brass Jaw saxophonist Paul Towndrow and keyboard player Steve Hamilton (Billy Cobham, Van Morrison and others). The pair (pictured above) cite Miles Davis, Celtic folksong, early jazz and free improvisation among their many inspirations. There’s a more closely focused set on offer at The Fringe on Wednesday (31) when trumpeter and arranger Andy Hague brings his excellent Horace Silver tribute quintet Silverado. It’s unfortunate that that gig clashes with another at Canteen featuring Sefrial and Dakhla Brass saxophonist Sophie Stockham and her trio, but that’s the story of the week: decisions, decisions.
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