Atsuko Shimada Quintet, Brecon Jazz Club Bar, Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, 14/04/2015.

Atsuko Shimada is a Japanese pianist and composer now resident in southern Spain. Born in Sapporo she studied at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston before settling in Europe with her Spanish husband, fellow pianist Juan Galiardo. She plays regularly at the Gibraltar Jazz Society’s regular Thursday night gigs at the colony’s Eliott’s Hotel and is also a respected music teacher.

Galiardo has a long standing relationship with Brecon Jazz Club and in 2014 visited Wales for a short tour in the company of his compatriot Arturo Serra (vibes) plus some of South Wales’ finest rhythm players. Two performances from this tour at Brecon and Abergavenny are reviewed elsewhere on this site.

Galiardo and Serra are due to play at Porthcawl Jazz Festival on April 19th 2015, as is Shimada, and with this in mind the organisers of Brecon Jazz Club invited Shimada to lead a band at their regular monthly event. The quintet that was subsequently assembled featured some of the best jazz musicians to be found in South Wales and the Borders and comprised of Greg Sterland (alto sax), Tom Ollendorff (guitar), Erika Lyons (double bass) and Phill Redfox O’Sullivan at the drums. Rehearsal time was almost certainly limited, Shimada and Galiardo had only arrived in the UK the same day as the gig, but nevertheless the quintet performed two excellent and enjoyable sets comprised mainly of jazz standards but also including a couple of Shimada originals.

On a glorious spring evening the turnout in the Theatre Bar at Theatr Brycheiniog was excellent with around fifty people resisting the lure of the lawn mower and the hedge clippers to support their local jazz club. If the spring and summer weather is too good it can be as detrimental to audience numbers as January snows and February floods so it is a tribute to the Brecon Jazz Club organisers that they have inspired such loyalty from their members. For me the journey to the venue was enhanced by some breathtakingly glorious views of the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons. However the good weather also meant that every farmer in the Welsh Marches seemed to have his tractor out on the road and we very nearly missed the start of the gig. I bet the readers of Sebastian Scotney’s London Jazz News don’t have this problem when navigating their way to the Vortex or Ronnie Scott’s! 

And so on to the music with the quintet opening the proceedings with a distinctive Afro-Cuban take on the standard “You Don’t Know What Love Is”. O’Sullivan started things off with the clatter of sticks on rims and his infectious rhythms fuelled excellent opening solos from Sterland on alto sax and Ollendorff on guitar plus a series of lively exchanges between the pair. Shimada featured her own playing at a Roland RD 170 keyboard (borrowed from Mike Chappell) and the piece closed with a drum feature from the highly skilled and versatile O’Sullivan.

Shimada handled the tune announcements bravely, but charmingly, in English. She even informed us that she was lucky to be here, having initially booked plane tickets for the following week and having had to reschedule her flight!
The next tune was a relaxed and swinging “Blue Moon” introduced by Shimada at the piano with Sterland subsequently stating the familiar melody. Solos came from Ollendorff on guitar, Sterland on alto, Shimada at the piano and local jazz heroine Erika Lyons on double bass. 

Sterland and Ollendorff left the stage and propped up the bar as Shimada led Lyons and O’Sullivan through a trio reading of the standard “For Heaven’s Sake” with solos for piano and bass plus a series of drum breaks. O’Sullivan is in great demand as a drummer in the South Wales area and expertly led the house band at the inaugural Wall2Wall Jazz Festival held in Abergavenny in 2013.

Shimada cites her influences as including Duke Ellington, Joanne Brackeen (with whom I suspect she may have studied), Art Blakey and Lee Morgan. There was certainly something of these last two in the Blue Note style flavourings of her original composition “Too Much Salt”. This featured absorbing solos from Sterland, Ollendorff and Shimada above the easy swinging grooves of O’Sullivan and Lyons, the latter even flourishing her bow during the tune’s closing moments.

The first set concluded with the ballad “How Long Has This Being Going On?”. Shimada ushered in the piece with an extended solo piano introduction incorporating gospel and blues inflections. Ollendorff’s guitar solo also featured his softly sung wordless vocals following his guitar lines. The guitarist recently hosted a triumphant performance by New York based guitarist Gilad Hekselman at Dempsey’s in Cardiff and there was something of Hekselman’s influence to be heard here -and maybe a hint of Pat Metheny too. Lyons was the other main soloist here, her melodic statement a delight as always, she’s a consistently interesting and inventive bass soloist as well as being a great time keeper.

During the interval the Club’s indefatigable Lynne Gornall (“she’s a dynamo” commented fellow committee member David Brockwell) acknowledged the presence of some leading local musicians in the audience including drummers Bert Jones and John Gibbon and pianist Mike Chappell. Two of the Club’s youngest members got a name check, seven year old Finn and eleven year old Jasmine.  There was even a mention for two visitors from Brecon’s twin town in France. This was a very international gathering!

Then it was on to the raffle which was an entertainment in itself. Theatre director Paula Redway conducted the draw but it was the way in which Ollendorff and O’Sullivan impishly played each prize winner up to the stage that got people laughing. Shimada initially looked bemused at this strange British custom but was soon joining in on keyboards! Terrific fun. 

Eventually it was back to the music and an arrangement of Miles Davis’ “Solar” that the quintet had worked out during the afternoon. They fairly romped through the tune with forceful and inventive solos from Sterland, Ollendorff and Lyons.

Shimada’s ballad arrangement of Hoagy Carmichael’s enduringly popular “Skylark” featured more low key vocalising from Ollendorff as well as further solos from Sterland and Shimada.

“I Thought About You” was delivered in bebop mode with Sterland stating the theme and taking the first solo, followed immediately by Shimada. In between providing splendidly swinging support Lyons and O’Sullivan also found room for a double bass solo and a series of brushed drum breaks.

Another Shimada arrangement graced the ballad “When Will We Be Together Again” with the leader taking the first solo. Ollendorff followed on warm toned guitar before a more expansive solo from the impressive Sterland. Both students at the Royal Welsh College of Music Ollendorff and Sterland are regular sparring partners and both are part of bassist Aidan Thorne’s group Duski. Sterland, who also plays tenor sax, has also graced the ranks of the RWCMD Big Band.

To close the evening Shimada unveiled a second original composition. “Semana Santa” was inspired by the noise and passion of Easter Week in her Spanish home town and was another lively tune in the bebop/hard bop tradition with Sterland stating the theme and taking the first solo followed by Ollendorff, Shimada and Lyons with Sterland later returning to restate the theme.

The quintet were very well received by an appreciative Brecon crowd and Lynne Gornall had little difficulty in persuading them to return for a well deserved encore. This was a hard driving arrangement of Herbie Hancock’s infectious “Watermelon Man” with the funk rhythms fuelling incisive solos from Ollendorff, Sterland and Shimada. A great way to end a thoroughly entertaining and good natured evening of music making.

My thanks to Lynne Gornall, Roger Cannon and David Brockwell of Brecon Jazz Club for inviting my wife and I to this event, Juan Galiardo for taking time to speak with me, and to all the musicians for an excellent evening. The next event at this thriving club will feature vocalist Emily Saunders backed by the Dave Cottle Trio on Tuesday 19th May 2015. Visit http://www.breconjazzclub.org for further details.