Thoughts on Loz Speyer’s “Time Zone”, 13 September 2023
The earlier writeup for this gig made me expect something different and original, and I was not disappointed (you can see that writeup here). Loz Speyer gave us a programme which varied from fun to profound. He writes with freedom in the chording and time signatures, and uses a wide variety of rhythms. The rhythms came mostly from the Cuban tradition, where Loz spent some of his life.
“Lost at Sea” was a memorial for the dead from boat crossings around the world. It was very affecting. There were shocks of pitch, chording and volume changes that got to you. The quiet but dissonant quiet periods and the heavier sections were evocative of what the boats were facing.
Loz wanted us to get up and dance for one number. Our audience? Perhaps not. The last number, “Dalston Carnival” almost did it: it was joyous. Friedrich Nietzsche’s comment, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” transports into Cuban as “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Fat”, another joyous song.
What a fascinating use of time signatures, Loz has. There was lots of 4/4 and a bit of 3/4, but 11/16 takes a chorus to get into. But then is just felt right in the song. There were a couple of 10/8 (or 2*5/4?) tunes as well.
The excellent crew were Loz on trumpet and flugel, Martin Hathaway on sax and bass clarinet, Chris Allard on guitar, Dave Manington on bass, Satin Singh on congas and Anmol Mohara on drums. If I had to pick up one thing from the excellent work of them all, I would choose Anmol and Satin who had a couple of trading 4s and 2s which were delightful.
Thanks to Miles’ daughter for the set list, setting and rolling cables, helping with everything else, and suffering listening to my anecdotes.
On Wednesday 27 September, the wonderful Jo Harrop will be leading a tribute to great voices in jazz. If you have not heard her before, you have been missing a fine and flexible singer with a deep musical understanding of the songs. Her normal quartet has Paul Edie on piano, Jihad Darwish on bass and Peter Adams on drums, but for us she has added our good friend and amazing guitarist, Nigel Price. Don’t miss it.
Setlist for Loz Speyer’s “Time Zone” – 13 September 2023
“a rich mix of cinematic landscape evocation, funky guitar grooves, dreamy reveries spun off minimalist patterns and fluently uncliched improv” – Album of the Month & 4 STARS for ‘A View with a Room’ from John Fordham, The Guardian
“brilliant” – Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 6 Music
“A high intensity, mercurial workout” – Downbeat Magazine on ‘Ninety Degrees Gravity’
My Iris is an intense and thrilling band that represents the front rank of the contemporary UK jazz scene. Lauded for her imaginative approach to improv and adroit writing, saxophonist Trish Clowes provides her bandmates RossStanley (on the mighty Hammond ), ChrisMontague(guitar) and Joel Barford (drums) with a unique platform for individual expression and group interplay, delivering driving grooves and lingering melodic lines, seamlessly morphing between earthy restlessness and futuristic dreamscapes.
The band has toured internationally and made broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and Radio Bremen. Notable recent performances include Wigmore Hall (where Clowes is an Associate Artist), Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Rochester International Jazz Festival (Made In The UK showcase), Toronto International Jazz Festival, Galway Jazz Festival, and the Barbican (London Jazz Festival). In May 2023, they were joined by Dave Douglas for a special gig at the 606 Club in London, playing a mixture of Douglas and Clowes’s compositions.
Paying homage to three of the most influential giants of Jazz, this outstanding quintet, led by Alan Barnes, celebrates the music of each of them. One of the great tenor saxophonists in early jazz history, Ben Webster was considered one of the “big three” of swing tenors along with Coleman Hawkins, who was Webster’s main influence, and Lester Young. With a warm breathy sound on ballads that’s instantly recognisable and a tough raspy tone on stomps, Webster was Duke Ellington’s first major tenor soloist in the ‘40s. Coleman Hawkins, nicknamed “Bean”, was the first important tenor saxophonist and he remains one of the greatest of all time. A consistently modern improviser with an encyclopedic knowledge of chords and harmonies, Hawkins had a 40-year prime (1925-1965) during which he could hold his own with any competitor. Charlie “Yardbird” Parker practically invented Modern Jazz with bebop along with his contemporaries Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell and shaped the course of 20th century music. Rather than basing his improvisations closely on the melody as was done in swing, “Bird” was a master of chordal improvising, creating new melodies that were based on the structure of a song.
Alan Barneshas been at the forefront of British jazz since 1980 and his musicianship and sense of humour have made him hugely popular in jazz clubs and festivals across the UK and beyond. He is best known for his work on clarinet, alto and baritone saxes, where he combines a formidable virtuosity with outstanding musical expression.
Come and join us for what promises to be a gig full of outstanding tunes from the golden eras of swing and bebop played with passion and musical verve.
The pandemic was extremely hard on artists of all kinds: theatre, on and off the stage, for example. It was very difficult for musicians, but many of them found good ways to use the time. One of the best of these was the genesis and work that produced Five-Way Split. Quentin Collins (trumpet and flugel), Vasilis Xenopoulos(tenor sax), Rob Barron(piano), Máyás Hofecker (double bass) and Matt Home (drums) created the band. They wrote music for it, recorded it, and over time produced an excellent CD of their own tunes, and some standards.
They played for us last Wednesday. What a delight not to see music stands! In fact, Rob wanted the piano front off, and asked for the music stand that sits on the open piano. He looked at it for a minute, and realized that they knew the music, so the stand was put away. What was magical was the combination of great unity and precision of the five coupled with the freedom to improvise in such a lyrical way.
The standard of writing was very high throughout the gig. The first number, Vasilis’s tribute to Wayne Shorter, “Out of Waynes Bag”, brought us into the heart of the band’s music.
Arranging is a subtle art, and the band is very good at it. Solos flowed out of the heads beautifully. Quentin’s solo with the Harmon mute in “All The Way” was a highlight for me, but every solo shone. I like to listen to the accompaniments to solos, and these were very good, lots of careful listening. But the solos grabbed my attention pretty well totally.
Thanks to Steve Jordan for producing the setlist below. He agreed, a great gig, thank you , guys,
The next gig is on Wednesday, 13 September. Loz Speyer’s “Time Zone”will have us travel with Cuban music around the world. It will be grand, don’t miss it.
Take care,
Dave
FIVE-WAY SPLIT
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 23/08/23
Out of Wayne’s Bag (Xenopoulos)
Lingua Franca (Barron)
Mr Birthday Waltz (Collins)
Asymphonatic (Collins)
Evidently (Barron)
* * * * * * *
All The Way (Jimmy Van Heusen/Sam Cahn) – a song made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1957 which was introduced in the film The Joker Is Wild. This arrangement was by Rob Barron.
Sunday in New York (Peter Nero and Carroll Coates ) – a song written for the 1963 movie of the same name. It was sung by Mel Tormé in the film which starred Jane Fonda.
San Sebastian (Xenopoulos) – named after the city in the Basque region of Spain
Theme For Ernie (Fred Lacey) – covered by John Coltrane amongst others
Encounter (Mike LeDonne) – based on the chord changes of Love for Sale
Dave Lyons was absent from this gig and is already aware that he missed a corker. We will see you soon, Dave, and wish you well. This was a standout gig of the season for which I have written a review built around the setlist.
Last night, we had a fine quintet of musicians under the co-leadership of Simon Spillett and Pete Long, each one an uncompromising powerhouse on tenor sax, paying tribute to The Jazz Couriers, the UK band that emerged in the late 1950s. Spillett is well-known as the biographer and keeper of the flame of the great tenorist, Tubby Hayes, who formed one half of the frontline of the Jazz Couriers along with Ronnie Scott. Spillett’s close attention to the Hayes legacy has influenced his own playing stance and we were honoured (yes!) to hear what seemed to my ears to be the living embodiment of Tubby Hayes, who died at the absurdly early age of 38 fifty years ago this year. Alongside, we had award-winning repertory bandleader, Pete Long, taking the role of Ronnie Scott, dazzling us with solos galore and flashing a knowing grin at the audience each time, as if to say, “Beat that!” The rhythm section was stunning and versatile in complimenting the two strong tenorists extremely well, but also as a trio when Spillett and Long took a well-earned rest during some numbers. Our pianist was Pete Billington, depping effortlessly and with a beautiful lyricism on many numbers; Alec Dankworth, a truly world-class double bass player who worked the whole length of the instrument and left me reeling each time he took a lead; the wizard that is Pete Cater showing us on many occasions why he is so much in-demand with his controlled pyrotechnics on drums.
The band kicked off with two hard and fast numbers to take us through a rollercoaster ride of emotions to set the scene: the eponymous (as Simon said, “imaginatively titled”) ‘The Jazz Couriers’ followed by the first ever recorded track of the band, ‘Through the Night Roared the Overland Express’, with both tenorists creating a wall of sound as the rhythm section worked busily almost just to keep up.
Bringing the tempo and volume down just a shade, we had ‘Southern Suite Parts One and Three’, a mini masterpiece of big band scoring, written by Hayes and here adapted for quintet, which was originally written for a BBC broadcast.
Throughout both sets, the two tenorists took it in turns to present anecdotes on the background to each number and its place in the career of The Jazz Couriers, as well as the development of post-war British Jazz generally. If this sounds dry, think again. Both Spillett and Long are charismatic performers gifted with a dry observational wit. Simon has immense skill in making the history of jazz come alive, using his infectious passion to explain how British Jazz after the war, stuck in the dance band genre, was languishing behind Swing era American Jazz, until the likes of Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Jimmy Deuchar and a few others arrived on the scene.
As if on cue, the band treat us to the calming, melodic ‘Yesterdays’ by Jerome Kern. The tenors state the theme, then Long takes an excellent solo and soon after Billington’s groove-laden solo leads into an ‘out’ chorus by the two tenors. The first set concludes with Tubby Hayes’ quickstep arrangement of Gershwin’s ‘Love Walked In’.
While the double act of Spillett and Long pays homage to the music of the Jazz Couriers, they are fully aware that they are there to entertain. The audience are kept amused throughout by banter and quips; Long is whips up the audience until they roar and exuberant cheers and cries from both Spillett and Long push the band to ever-higher states of euphoria. This stuff is not for the faint of heart!
The second set drives from the outset with the Silveresque ‘Mirage’, a 1958 composition by Tubby Hayes, already showing his ease with the hard-bop genre. Following on from this is Victor Feldman’s ‘Karen’, dedicated to his niece, which originally featured Tubby Hayes on tenor in Feldman’s big band. Feldman’s vibraphone was an inspiration to Tubby, so much so that one night, when Feldman was late arriving for a club date at the Flamingo club, Hayes took over and played an impromptu version of Bags Groove on vibes to an astonished crowd! Within months, Tubby had begun to play the instrument on his own gigs, astounding everyone. Simon took barely hidden delight in relating the inspiration for a Jazz Couriers favourite and perfect slice of hard bop penned by Tubby, ‘The Serpent’. The Hayes composition is one which could easily pass for the work of Horace Silver and was allegedly dedicated to the outsized manhood of jazz promoter, Bix Curtis. The pace is brought down again with a ballad medley of ‘Moonlight in Vermont’, with Long leading on tenor before segueing into ‘But, Beautiful’ with Spillett taking the lead; both tenorists show how they can play sensitively and sensuously. Jimmy Deucar’s steaming ‘Suddenly last Tuesday’, a reworking of Get Happy, is officially the last number of the set and showcases the talents of each member of the band, not least those of the rhythm section: Pete Billington drawing calls of encouragement and excitement from Long; Alec Dankworth plucking the bass at an impressive pace and Pete Cater excelling and matching the near superhuman stamina of Long and Spillett.
The band had worked themselves ragged but gave us the encore we demanded: a danceband-era workout by Tubby Hayes called ‘Take Your Partners For The Blues’. At the beginning of the gig, Pete Long quipped that bands only play twice at the Fleece, once on the way up and once on the way down and then followed with “It’s good to be back”. He really was joking – our appreciative audience went home glowing and buzzing. For some of them, including an older couple that I sat next to, this brought back vivid memories of the Flamingo Club and Ronnie Scott’s at Gerard St when this reviewer was just a toddler!
In two weeks’ time, on Wednesday 23rd August, we welcome another quintet, Five-Way Split. Co-led by two great musicians, Quentin Collins on trumpet and flugelhorn and Vasilis Xenopoulos on tenor sax, with the golden touch of Rob Barron on piano, virtuosic bassist Mátyás Hofecker and rock-solid drummer Matt Home, Five-Way Split presents a sound that respects the tradition of the hard-bop era whilst also bringing it up to date for today’s audience. With an extensive repertoire of hip material by greats like Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton and Horace Silver, expect a night of the best swinging and soulful music.
What a wonderful gig, loved by our listening audience. They really do listen.
You learn something new every gig. A bigsby is a lever on a guitar that can raise or lower its pitch by a bit. Rob Luft make beautiful use of his. He added timbre to individual notes as well as using it for tremolo or other effects. Rob was one of the leaders of the band. What a stunning guitarist he is. He writes well too, see Steve’s setlist entry below, “Gayetski”. I loved watching him use the bigsby and magically switching from plectrum to fingering. It is not often an intro gets hoots and applause, but two of his did.
The other leader was Dave O’Higgins, and it was such a pleasure to have him back with us. His tenor style suited the very different styles of the Coltrane and Monk music that they played. His blues “One for Six”, about his residence at the 606 club was my pick of the evening. Like on all the tunes, everyone got a chance to blow. It just seemed to me to be the cherry on a very good cake.
The two leaders shared the announcement mic with stories about the songs, very interesting and often very funny. I won’t say that they could have a career in stand-up comedy, but they were very entertaining.
Ross Stanley was trapped in Spain, so on the very morning, Jim Watson got a request to play piano for us. The music we had was far from trivial, but Jim handled it with aplomb. He had to read, of course, which from time to time left his accompaniment a little stylistically different from his colleagues. His solos were grand, and met with loud approval from our audience.
Luke Fowler is embedded in the band. You could see him concentrating, often with a big smile, on the soloist. But also, on the accompaniment. There is a real rapport between him and the drummer. He showed us again what a fine soloist he is, but he is so strong as the heartbeat of the band.
There is a very sensitive side to the drumming of Rod Youngs. Like Luke, he was watching each member of the band like a hawk. I do love a drummer that plays the room so accurately. He had a couple of spectacular solos. His use of brushes (both ends!) is amazing.
That left the sound to talk about. We had rigged micing all of the instruments except the drums, with talk mics for Dave and Rob. All but Luke had fold-back speakers. We ended up with the only visible mic was the shared talk mic. The band was totally acoustic except for a tiny boost for the piano. The monitors were still in place, but Daves was unplugged. It sounded lovely.
The next gig has Simon Spillett and Pete Long doing the Jazz Couriers two tenors thing. Rob Barron will be on piano, Alec Dankworth on bass and Pete Cater on drums. We would love to see you with us.
Take care
Dave
O’HIGGINS & LUFT: “PLUTO”
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 26/07/23
Pluto (O’Higgins)
Gayetski (Luft) – a composition dedicated to recently deceased, Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz and Astrud’s husband, João Gilberto, all of whom famously collaborated on The Girl From Ipanema. Getz, was born Stanley Gayetski; his grandparents were Ukrainian Jewish refugees who migrated to Whitechapel in the East End of London to escape the anti-Jewish pogroms.
“A formidable saxophonist . . . an improviser to his fingertips, a player of forceful imagination, and one of the UK’s most distinctive saxophonists.”John Fordham, The Guardian
Award-winning saxophonist Ed Jones returns to Fleece Jazz with his brilliant contemporary jazz quartet. A mainstay of the London Jazz scene since the late 1980s, expect beautifully poised music as Ed and the band play recently composed new music as well as material from their highly acclaimed 2018 recording “For Your Ears Only.”
Based in London for over 25 years, Ed works in the UK and internationally with a wide range of his own projects and collaborations. His experience as a sideman reflects his diverse musical interests, having worked with Free Jazz pioneers John Stevens and Evan Parker; US jazz legends Horace Silver, George Benson and Dianne Reeves; leading UK jazz musicians such as Jason Rebello, Don Weller and Byron Wallen; crossover projects such as Us3 and Incognito through to RnB legends such as Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, Carlene Anderson and Omar. He has been described as “one of the most fluent and forceful saxophonists in Europe” (Jack Massarik, Evening Standard) and “inventive, physical, full of life, on the edge and unmistakeably of today” (Chris May, All About Jazz).
Ed is joined by widely respected and frequent Fleece Jazz visitor, Ross Stanley, on piano. Constantly in-demand for his flowing creative and lyrical playing, he always serves the music and is universally revered by fellow musicians and the wider listening public alike. Bassist Riaan Vosloo is involved in a wide number of projects as a producer, arranger, composer and performer, including leading lights in the UK Jazz and improvised music scene such as Run Logan Run and Ben Lamdin aka Nostalgia 77. Drummer Tim Giles first made an impression at the age of 12 by winning the Daily Telegraph Young Composer of the Year Award in 1992. While still in his teens, Tim performed internationally with saxophonists Iain Ballamy and Stan Sulzmann and his current regular projects also include Ben Lamdin’s Nostalgia 77 and the Tori Freestone Trio.
“The vigorous, sometimes downright volcanic tenor sound of Ed Jones has long been one of the great live delights of British Jazz. His barnstorming ‘terrier with a rat’ approach raises the music’s temperature whenever he solos”.Chris Parker, Jazzwise
This evening Josh Kemp and his quartet explore the lyrical and spiritual music of John Coltrane, including his masterpiece, A Love Supreme, one of the biggest-selling recordings in Jazz. This seminal and unique album represents the peak of Coltrane’s achievement and his musical journey from bebop to the avant-garde of 1960s Jazz. It remains to this day a work of deep spiritual power, representing a struggle for purity, an expression of gratitude and an acknowledgement that the musician’s talent comes from a higher source. The performance is accompanied with video projections inspired by the meaning and message of Coltrane’s music.
A jazz saxophonist with a gift for melody, Josh Kemp is known for his lyrical, improvising style and imaginative compositions and collaborations. Josh has studied Coltrane’s original material, yielding an authentic yet personal recreation of the epic aural poem that is A Love Supreme as well as other compositions.
Composer and songwriter Gareth Williams is a Chancellor’s Fellow at Edinburgh College of Art. His compositions seek to find new relationships, participants, collaborators and audiences for new opera, music theatre, and song, to shed light on stories and communities that have been overlooked, and to explore ideas of vulnerability in vocal writing.
Bassist and composer Dave Manington is one of the mainstays of the London jazz scene and a founder member of the Loop Collective. He has played with many of the pre-eminent jazz musicians in the UK and Europe including Julian Arguelles, Marius Neset, Gwilym Simcock, Mark Lockheart, Tim Garland, Iain Ballamy, Gwyneth Herbert, Pete King and Yazz Ahmed.
Tristan Maillot has been active on the UK jazz scene since the mid 90’s as both sideman and leader. He has played with numerous leading international stars such as Jim Hall, Stacey Kent, Clare Martin, Jim Mullen, Fred Hersch, Martin Taylor, Stan Tracey, Steve Grossman, Norma Winstone and Bobby Wellins.
“A subtle, highly nuanced and original sound”Time Out
Joanna Eden presents a ‘labour of love’ show celebrating the music of her vocal hero Ella Fitzgerald. From the throw-away “A Tisket A Tasket” which brought Ella to fame in the forties with the Chick Webb Orchestra to later songbook album classics like Porter’s “Every Time We Say Goodbye” and Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me” , Eden mines the rich seam of Ella Fitzgerald’s unrivalled canon with humility, style and obvious deep affection.
Mojo magazine describes her songwriting as having ‘melody, mystery and bite’. With six solo albums to her credit, Joanna is considered one of the finest singer-pianists in the UK with a style that covers a broad spectrum, through jazz, soul, bossa nova and blues. Her beautifully crafted compositions give life to personal and expressive lyrics, which – like her songwriting hero Joni Mitchell – question and reflect life’s changes.
This Tuesday will be exceptional, because Joanna will be singing the songs and loves of the great Ella Fitzgerald. Chris Ingham will be on piano, and Andres Lafone will join us on bass. Our great friend, the drummer George Double will be with us. This is an ideal trio to support any singer, and as a group on their own.
This gig was a joy. They came, they sang, they conquered.Sarah Jane Morris had all her power, and we loved her close communication with the audience, who reciprocated in song themselves.
Steve’s set list is below, so I can talk about the musicians. First the newbie: we would be delighted to have Marcus Bonfanti back. He is a superbly skilled guitarist, whether finger or plectrum or steel. He had a solo on “Lovely Day” that was light, textured and really beautiful. All his solos were inventive. His accompaniment was thoughtful and interesting. As a backing vocalist, his voice provided perfect harmonies with Sarah’s voice.
Tony Rémy is simply an outstanding world class guitarist. I was surprised to see him using a capo on the first number. Tony needs a capo? What do I know? Solo after solo, Tony’s guitar sang to us. “Up From the Sky’s” gave a whole new take on this Hendrix song. Tony usually set the vibe, and he and Marcus listened very closely to each other and used each other, so their accompaniment form was contrapuntal. Tony’s basso was only heard in a few numbers, but it added just the right support to the songs he sang in.
Sarah used to introduce Henry Thomas as “The Mighty”, and he still is. In the first set he played electric guitar. In the second set he also played with a fretless acoustic bass, which has a wonderful sound: softer, warmer, but just as clear as the electric. His solos on “Head and Heart” and “Lovely Day” were amazing. He is a great backing singer. I was glad of the chance to talk to Henry after the gig. His understanding of music, composition and indeed the current way of the world is quite profound. Conversations with Henry are to be treasured.
What can I say about Sarah Jane Morris that has not been said a thousand times? If you have never seen her before, she can be a bit overwhelming. There were a few such in the audience, but they soon be came like the rest, lovers of her work. She has an immense voice, a big range and lots of tonalities. The commitment she has to the music and what it means is clear. One reason she is loved is that she works so well with an audience. We were all singing in the second half, to her direction.
Our next gig will be on Wednesday 26 July, – O’Higgins & Luft will present work from their album Pluto. This is straight-ahead modern jazz in the African-American tradition, coming from the Monk and Trane lineage, but not bound to emulating it. The musicians are Dave O’Higgins Tenor sax, Rob Luft Guitar, Ross Stanley Piano, Luke Fowler Bass and Rod Youngs Drums. It will be a cracker, don’t miss it.
Take care,
Dave
SARAH-JANE MORRIS: “SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW”
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 12/07/23
All songs from the first set, as well as the encore, were written and originally sperformed by the late, great John Martyn.
Fairytale Lullaby
Couldn’t Love You More
Head and Heart
One World
Sweet Little Mystery
May You Never
Over The Hill
* * * * * * *
On My Way To You (Morris/Remy)
Feel The Love (Morris/Remy)
Imagine (John Lennon)
Lovely Day (Bill Withers)
Up From The Skies (Jimi Hendrix)
Piece of My Heart (Jerry Ragovoy/Bert Berns) – originally recorded by Erma Franklin, Aretha’s older sister, in 1967 but better known from the version by Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin on lead vocals.
