Music / Jazz
The week in jazz – Aug 8-14
Well things continue to be a tad quiet on the jazz front hereabouts, with Future Inn joining other regular venues in taking a break until September. Happily, however, there’s still Canteen and they have a couple of ear-catching nights this week, starting on Wednesday 10 with M4 Corridor and swiftly followed by the excellent Let Spin (pictured above) on Thursday (11).
M4 Corridor is, as you probably worked out, a London/Bristol collaboration with local boys Nick Malcolm (trumpet, pictured) and Will Harris (bass) joining Londoners James Kitchman (guitar) and Simon Roth (drums). That’s a lot of contemporary jazz talent and though they’re playing a set of standards (albeit ‘lesser known’) their collective improvisational energy promises a fresh take on the familiar.
Let Spin are a very different proposition: possibly the first post-post-rock band (check this video) their electric sound adds Chris Williams’ sax to a guitar/bass guitar/drums trio that has a whole new take on that classic line-up. Sometimes loosley spacious, at others crushingly heavy, they reweave their music with amazing precision and a strong sense of the dynamics. Similar things could be said of Modulus III (pictured) but their stronger commitment to grooves gives a danceable edge to their fully improvised electronic jazz. It’s riveting stuff and the Left Bank (Friday 12) should be packed for their return gig there.
Of course The Fringe is another reliable venue during our annual jazz drought and this week’s act (Wednesday 10) is soul-jazz vocalist Ella Julian (pictured) with a band that features Gary Alesbrook’s Chet-flavoured trumpet and the impeccable rhythm section of Anders Olinder and Andy Tween. This is ‘Nu-soul’ territory, as her recently-relased debut EP Pray illustrates, and there’s a similar pitch to the Soul Strutters gig at No 1 Harbourside (Friday 10), though their jazz-funk take also has a Meters-ish coolness at times.
And then that’s about it for the week – though you could head over the bridge to catch some of the Brecon Jazz Weekend or maybe settle down to check out the advance info on the Bebop Club Autumn programme, including tasty visitors like drummer Corrie Dick’s band with Alice Zawadski, saxophonist Tori Freestone and Danish bassist Henrik Jensen.
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