Just listening to the fabulous new CD on the Edition label from Meadow, a supergroup trio of pianist John Taylor, drummer Thomas Stronen and saxophonist Tore Brunborg. Review here very soon.
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Monthly Archives: January 2011
Russ’s pic of the week: Chris Bussey
Russ Escritt was at the Rainbow in Digbeth, Birmingham, last Wednesday for the Jazz Club 5th Birthday Party. Here’s Chris Bussey of Trio VD in all his sleeveless splendour from that night and it’s Russ’s pic of the week. Just click on the picture to find Russ’s website with loads of his other pictures plus his blog. Russ has a new book of his photographs available to buy. It’s called A Jazz Year In Birmingham and covers September 2009 to August 2010. Get a preview of this and also of his previous collections here.
CD review: Noah Preminger
Before The Rain
(Palmetto 21452)
The 24-year-old New England Conservatory graduate who moved to New York in 2008 and now plays his tenor regularly with Cecil McBee’s Transcend Quartet, has learned a lot and built up something of a rapport at the side of pianist Frank Kimbrough. Completing the quartet are solid and experienced keepers of the rhythmic flame, John Hebert on bass and Matt Wilson on drums.
Preminger chooses to start his second disc as a leader gently with a quiet reading of Rodgers and Hart’s Where Or When, but then it’s quickly into the free-time of Kimbrough’s tough Quickening.
The title track is a heart-meltingly lovely original, Kimbrough and Hebert holding a pedal point while Wilson adds cymbal colour behind and Preminger rises and falls lyrically above.
Abrecation has the dignified, unhurried feel of an adagio but with stormy percussion to unsettle it. The standard Until The Real Thing Comes Along gets an unashamed straight down the line, full fruity, romantic reading with Preminger particularly harmonious, and Kimbrough just so tasteful.
Before The Rain is in fact a whole album of ballads, but Preminger and crew use a wide range of tonal colours and continually revitalise the rhythms to make it feel a lot more spacious and varied.
This wasn’t an immediate show stopper of a disc upon first hearing – it’s not sufficiently surprising or aggressive for that. What it is is a rather lovely acquired taste. If you give it the time it deserves, it”ll reward you in spades.
Preminger and this band will be playing this music at The Jazz Standard in New York City on 16 February, at The Falcon in Marlboro NY on 18 February, and at Scullers in Boston MA on 23 February. Check out the venues for more details.
CD review: Danay Suarez
Havana Cultura Sessions
(Brownswood Recordings)
The story goes that when Gilles Peterson was in the studio rehearsing for a tour with pianist/MD Roberto Fonseca and the band that had made the exciting Havana Cultura album, they were so excited by the performances of young Cuban singer Danay Suarez, that they booked the space for another day and laid down these four tracks featuring her direct and powerful vocals.
In fact Suarez is not the only one giving a direct and powerful performance. The whole band, and especially its pianist leader, fires on all cylinders from the start.
The opener, Ser O No Ser, is a near 23-minute jam, with drummer Ramses Rodriguez a little too high in the mix; Hay Un Lugar is a graceful ballad for Suarez and Fonseca with minimal percussion; while Fonseca’s own Guajira shows the singer in a more traditional Cuban setting.
I’m not sure I’d rave over Suarez’s voice as much as Peterson does – maybe you had to be there… Overall, the charm of this disc is that it has the spontaneity, languid development and rough edges of a spontaneous jam session, which is what it primarily is.
The week ahead in gigs
Kristian Borring - at the Yardbird tonight
This is a week of smaller gigs with no real biggies to burst your bank balance. Which is just as well in the last week of January.
Thursday is a busy night of the week for jazz. Choice of the gigs this evening must be the Kristian Borring Band at the Yardbird in central Birmingham. Kristian, from Denmark, is on guitar, with Spencer Brown on bass and Jon Scott on drums. The gig starts at about 8.30pm and entry is free.
This evening the Millennium Eagle Jazz Band flies high for Burton Jazz at their regular weekly session held in the Marstons Social Club in Shobnall Road, Burton On Trent. Entry is £7 on the door and you can find out more on 01283 548159.
Also tonight, the big band with the fruity name, Sambuca Diaries, brings a more summery feel to Andy Hamilton’s Bearwood Corks Club evening. The band is made up of young players led from the bass by David Hale, and they bring funk, soul and Latin elements into their brassy big band sound. There is jazz at Bearwood Corks Club every Thursday, doors open at 8.30pm, the band starts playing at 9pm, entry is £5, the venue is at 558 Bearwood Road, and you can find out more at www.bearwoodjazz.co.uk
If Solihull is your manor, drop by The Old Silhillians Club House in Knowle this evening for George Huxley’s Jazz Club. George not only runs the club but is on the bandstand, too, with his Jazz Band with Caz. The fun starts at 8.30pm, tickets are £7 for club members, £8 for visitors on the door, and if you have queries, call 01564 730098.
Olivia Moore and her band Unfurl bring a different mood to the Rush Hour Blues session tomorrow evening. Olivia trained as a classical violinist before turning her attentions to improvisation, not only in jazz but in Indian and Arabic music as well. She has also absorbed influences from Cuban and Spanish music. Unfurl combines her violin with guitar, bass and percussion. The music runs from 5.30pm to 7pm in the Symphony Hall foyer bar. It’s free.
On Sunday evening things get seriously organic at The Chapel in Stratford-upon-Avon, as Stratford Jazz present Organology, a trio of Craig Milverton on organ, Neil Burns on guitar and Coach York on drums. Entry is £6 and you can find out more at www.stratfordjazz.org.uk
Also on Sunday, MYJO plays the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa, with guest vocalist Matt Ford. It starts at 7.30pm and £13 tickets are available from the Royal Spa Centre’s website here.
