Photograph of Geoff Eales sourced from; https://www.facebook.com/jazzbrecon/

BRECON JAZZ FESTIVAL 2024, MAIN WEEKEND

SATURDAY 10th AUGUST 2024

TATIANA EVA-MARIE QUARTET, MiNDSET STAGE, BRECON CATHEDRAL

Tatiana Eva-Marie – vocals, Ben Creighton-Griffiths – harp, Don Sweeney – guitar, Ashley John Long – double bass

The 2024 Festival saw the return of Brecon Cathedral as a concert venue with a series of events co-ordinated by Andrew Chainey, working under the Mindstep Stage name and in conjunction with the organisers of the Main Festival.

Although some of the Mindset events, which included DJ and comedy performances,  might have stretched the definition of jazz in purely musical terms Chainey was keen to impress that all the artists he presented approached their work with a ‘jazz mindset’.

I only got to see a couple of the Mindset shows and this lunchtime show by a quartet led by vocalist Tatiana Eva-Marie was one of the most obviously ‘jazz’ events on the Mindset programme.

Eva-Marie is a Swiss born vocalist and actress who was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris and is now resident in New York. The founder of the Avalon Jazz Band she has also released ten albums as a leader, the latest of which, “Djangology” finds her adding her own French language lyrics to classic Django Reinhardt compositions.

Her visit to Brecon teamed her with a Wales based trio led by jazz harpist Ben Creighton-Griffiths and featuring Don Sweeney on guitar and Ashley John Long on double bass. All of the trio members are hugely popular figures with Welsh jazz audiences and there was a very healthy turnout for this event.

A Reinhardt based programme commenced with the three instrumentalists playing “For Sephora” and all delivering fluent solos. Sweeney is probably best known as a bass player but I was impressed with his proficiency as a guitarist as he played his solid bodied electric Gibson. Both Creighton-Griffiths and Long are acknowledged as virtuosos of their respective instruments so I was less surprised, but still thoroughly delighted, by the quality of their playing.

Eva-Marie joined the trio for “Lady Be Good”, quickly establishing herself as an elegant and flexible vocalist. This first vocal performance was delivered in English but in the main Eva-Marie was to sing in French. Born in the French speaking part of Switzerland she is a true Francophile and sings expressively in her native tongue.

With Eva-Marie and Creighton-Griffiths sharing the announcing duties we learned that this was the singer’s first visit to Wales for eight years, but also that the quartet had also performed at a venue in Cardiff a couple of nights before. The vocalist and her three colleagues had clearly used that occasion to develop an impressive rapport and this was demonstrated by their version of “Dinette”, Reinhardt’s adaptation of the song “Dinah”. This was a piece that features in Eva-Maries’ “Djangology” project and featured her original French language lyrics. “I took Django’s tune down to the beach”, she explained. Her vivacious vocals were augmented by characteristically fluent instrumental solos from Creighton-Griffiths, Sweeney and Long.

Eva-Marie is the daughter of violinist Anca Maria, who instilled in her a love of the music of Stephane Grappelli - and by association that of Django Reinhardt. A version of “Nuages”, arguably Reinhardt’s most famous composition followed with Eva-Marie singing her own French language lyrics, with Creighton-Griffiths the featured instrumentalist and with Long deploying the bow at the close.

Eva-Marie informed us of the often forgotten fact that the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves” was originally a French song “Les Feuilles Mortes” (“The Dead Leaves”), written in 1945 by Joseph Kosma and Jacques Prevert. Johnny Mercer’s English language lyrics and the accompanying change of title came later. Eva-Marie sang the song in French, a beautiful and evocative vocal performance augmented by the instrumental solos of Creighton-Griffiths and Sweeney and with Long again deploying the bow at the end.

There was a change of mood and pace with the upbeat “Djangology”, with Eva-Marie singing coquettishly and with all three instrumentalists contributing lively solos.

Eva-Marie continued to sing in French on “C’est Si Bon” and also on the Hot Club classics “J’Attendrai” and “Swing 42”, with Creighton-Griffiths, Sweeney and Long all continuing to make sparkling instrumental contributions.

Although normally delivered in Spanish the song “Besame Mucho” was sung in French in a sensuous, slowed down arrangement that also included instrumental solos from Creighton-Griffiths and Long.

“La Mer” was the first of two songs associated with Charles Trenet, the other being “Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?”, known to English speaking audiences as “I Wish You Love” and subsequently recorded by Frank Sinatra.

The Trenet pieces were punctuated by “Joseph, Joseph”, a song of gypsy or klezmer origin that became a favourite tune of Reinhardt’s. Unusually Eva-marie sang the song in English, with Creighton-Griffiths, Sweeney and Long all weighing in with instrumental solos.

The performance concluded with the ever versatile “Caravan”, another song that featured Eva-Marie singing in English. This unusual gypsy jazz arrangement was introduced by Creighton-Griffiths at the harp and the performance included further instrumental solos from him and from Sweeney on guitar, the latter playfully inserting a quote from the gypsy jazz favourite “Sweet Georgia Brown”.

This was an excellent way to start the main Saturday of the Festival. Eva-Marie proved to be a highly accomplished vocalist and an engaging stage presence and the three instrumentalists all played superbly. Although much of the material was very familiar the unusual instrumentation allied to the distinctive French language vocalising, plus the sheer quality of the performances ensured that the music always sounded exciting and fresh. A great way to start the day.

FRAZZ PARADE / WONDERBRASS

The focus on this Festival Saturday was less on formal concert performances and more on street music and community involvement. With an outdoor stage (the Central Stage) established in the main town square there was a real attempt to create the ‘Brecon Buzz’ of the Festival’s heyday.

Immediately after the Cathedral show we decamped to the Bishop’s Garden, once a much loved Stroller venue, to eat our sandwiches, before gathering at the bottom of the hill to watch the annual Frazz Parade, a celebration of both the Fringe and Jazz Festivals.

Led by the musicians of that great Welsh music institution that is Wonderbrass the parade included giant puppets, stilt-walkers and was spectacular, colourful and fun. After winding its way through Brecon’s narrow streets the Frazz Parade arrived in the town square where the members of Wonderbrass then performed on the Central Stage.

Wonderbrass are a community big band from South Wales, originally assembled in Pontypridd in 1992. Under the guidance of saxophonist and musical director Rob Smith they have achieved a remarkable degree of success over the years.  The musicians in this large ensemble (typically 20-30 players) are not paid to play but all profits are ploughed back into the band to finance further projects.

With a horn section led by Smith and a rhythm team anchored since 1997 by top South Wales drummer Mark O’Connor this essentially amateur band achieves an enviably professional sound. Their live performances are well drilled but are simultaneously great fun  and the band has also issued a series of highly accomplished and very enjoyable recordings. Two of these, the “Jive at 5” EP from 2007 and the “Bonedrops” album from 2009 are reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann.

I’ve seen Wonderbrass perform live many times over the years at jazz festivals in Brecon, Lichfield and Abergavenny and have always enjoyed their irresistible blend of high quality musicianship combined with an infectious sense of fun. 

The band’s material is an eclectic collection of originals (mainly by Smith) and inspired covers,  drawing on a range of music genres, among them jazz, rock, funk, reggae, world music and whatever else takes their fancy. They have worked extensively with leading guest musicians, among them trumpeter Claude Deppa and saxophonist Jason Yarde.

I gather that the band had already played in Bethel Square prior to leading the Frazz Parade and this performance on the Central Stage was relatively brief, but still highly energetic and great fun. The musicians crammed onto the crowded stage, the line up including flutes, saxes, trumpets, trombones, guitars, bass and drums, although it has to be said that were so many people on stage that it was impossible to see everybody.

Clad in their bright band uniforms, with some group members also sporting exotic headgear Wonderbrass played a typically energetic, genre hopping set featuring some fine soloing. In the outdoor setting taking notes wasn’t really an option but I do recall that they finished with the perennial favourite “Daisy Roots”, a band original.

As ever the exuberance of the band’s performance attracted a number of dancers to the front of the stage and the band were only denied a deserved encore due to time restraints.

After more than thirty years Wonderbrass remains a much loved Welsh music institution that continues to bring joy to its audiences and to the community as a whole. More power to their collective elbows.

MIKE CHAPPELL TRIO

Mike Chappell – piano, Steve Tarner – double bass, John Gibbon – drums

On one of the warmest days of the year the sun was beating down on the Central Stage and the heat was getting a bit uncomfortable. With this in mind I elected to ‘chill out’ in the cooler confines of St. Mary’s Church which was presenting a second series of free musical events.

Relaxing over a coffee I enjoyed a short set of well known standards performed by a trio led by locally based pianist Mike Chappell and featuring bassist Steve Tarner and drummer John Gibbon. These three had formed the ‘house trio’ at the recent Jazz Friends event hosted by Brecon Jazz Club at The Muse in July 2024.

Most of the pieces were performed in the head-solos-head format and included regular soloing opportunities for all three participants. This set did not form part of the official Festival programme and was comparatively sparsely attended, but the laid back atmosphere was just what I needed at the time as I recharged the proverbial batteries prior to the next concert event.

This was an enjoyable, if low key,  set and for the record the tunes played were;
“The Lady is a Tramp”, “Darn That Dream”, “Autumn Leaves”, “Satin Doll”, “All The Things You Are” and “Take The A Train”.

THE DYLAN THOMAS JAZZ SUITE SEXTET, GUILDHALL THEATRE

Margot Morgan – vocals, Cris Haines – trumpet, flugelhorn, whistle Deborah Glenister – tenor & alto saxophones, bass clarinet, Dave Jones – piano, Paula Gardiner – double bass, Mark O’Connor – drums

This well attended event represented a homage to the much missed Jen Wilson (1944 – 2023), the Swansea based jazz pianist, composer,  author, historian and archivist and the founder of the Jazz Heritage Wales organisation.

In 2003 Wilson was commissioned to write a suite to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Dylan Thomas . She took inspiration from the rhythms of Thomas’ poetry and selected twelve of his poems as vehicles for her jazz compositions, using the first lines of the poems as tune titles.

A recording of the suite was released in 2010 and was favourably reviewed for The Jazzmann by trumpeter Charlotte Keeffe who was studying at the RWCMD, Cardiff at the time and wrote a couple of articles for the site as a guest contributor. Charlotte’s review of Wilson’s album can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/twelve-poems-the-dylan-thomas-suite

I was also impressed by the  “Twelve Poems; The Dylan Thomas Suite” recording which was credited to the Jen Wilson Ensemble, a sextet featuring Wilson on piano, Margot Morgan on vocals, Cris Haines on trumpet, Chris Ryan on saxes, Paula Gardiner on double bass and Mark O’ Connor at the drums.

Four members of that Ensemble were present today with Morgan, Haines, Gardiner and O’Connor joined by pianist Dave Jones and Deborah Glenister, a long time Wilson associate, saxes and clarinet. The pieces had been arranged for today’s line up by trumpeter Cris Haines, who made an excellent job of it.

As well as giving voice to Thomas’ words Margot Morgan also acted as narrator / MC for the performance, announcing the aptly titled opener “When I Woke” as a “morning song”. Appropriately the song served as a real ‘wake up call’ for the audience, with Morgan’s powerful vocals supported by the driving rhythms generated by the rhythm section of Jones, Gardiner and the tireless O’Connor, fresh from his earlier exploits with Wonderbrass.

The more reflective “A Process In The Weather Of The Heart” set Morgan’s voice within a rich tapestry of sounds with Gardiner’s melodic bass playing at the heart of the arrangement. She was also a featured soloist alongside Haines, the trumpeter deploying a range of mutes within his own arrangement, the soft melancholy sounds of the Harmon contrasting effectively with the harsher, vocalised sounds of the plunger mute.

“Shall Gods Be Said To Thump The Clouds” saw Haines switching to flugel as he again shared solos with Gardiner, with Jones on piano and Glenister on tenor sax also featuring as soloists.

The martial rhythms of “Before I Knocked” prompted another powerful performance from Morgan, her semi sung/spoken vocals augmented by bright, articulate instrumental solos from Jones on piano, Haines on trumpet and Glenister on tenor sax. O’Connor was featured in a militaristic drum episode and Haines was briefly featured on whistle at the close.

Morgan informed us that she is particularly fond of “Especially The October Wind” as the poem references her own birth month. More subdued than the title might suggest the piece featured Glenister on clarinet and featured solos from Jones at the piano and Haines on Harmon muted trumpet.

Arguably Thomas’ most famous poem “Do Not Go Gentle” was treated to a blues styled arrangement, something that allowed for more expansive instrumental soloing, led off by Gardiner on melodic, but deeply resonant double bass. Further solos were to come from Glenister on tenor and Haines on flugel.

The blues theme continued with the instrumental composition “Jen’s Twelve Bar Blues”, which effectively acted as the ‘interval’. Originally written for big band this was today performed in a quartet format with Morgan and Haines sitting out. Glenister was featured on alto, sharing the solos with Jones, Gardiner and O’Connor.

There was a return to the Thomas repertoire with “This Bread I Break”, introduced in the piano trio format and subsequently featuring solos from Glenister on alto, Haines on trumpet and Jones on piano. Morgan was keen to draw the audience’s attention to the line “Man broke the Sun”, Thomas’ prescient comment on the environmental crisis and presumably inspired by the pollution of the time in industrial South Wales.

“On A Wedding Anniversary” is not the celebratory poem that its title might suggest. Instead Thomas’ words address the subject of conflict within a marital relationship and within wider society, the friction expressed here via Morgan’s emotive vocals and Glenister’s rough edged tenor sax sound. Jones’ piano solo then provided a link into a series of feisty musical dialogues between trumpet and tenor, the performance ending in a series of garrulous collective free jazz squalls.

The words of “The Force That Through The Green Fuse” deals with the cycles of life and death with Thomas seeing his own existence reflected in the natural world. Musically the piece represents one of Wilson’s most beautiful compositions and the song was played at her own funeral. Morgan’s emotive vocals were complemented by a lush arrangement featuring the sounds of clarinet, flugelhorn, bowed bass and mallet rumbles, with Haines the featured soloist.

An unexpectedly funky groove helped to propel “Here In This Spring”, which saw Haines featuring on trumpet and Glenister on alto sax. Glenister shared the solos with Gardiner, whose bass was at the heart of the music throughout tonight’s performance and represented a unifying force throughout.

For “When The Twilight Knocks No Longer” Wilson drew inspiration from J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto”  as part of a jaunty arrangement featuring solos from Haines on trumpet, Glenister on clarinet and Jones at the piano.

The performance concluded with “Fern Hill”, another of Thomas’ most popular poems. The words are colourful and highly descriptive, evoking memories of a childhood in rural Wales as the writer bathes in the warm glow of nostalgia while regretting the changes that have come with adulthood. The verbal imagery was complemented by an arrangement that set Morgan’s voice in a musical landscape featuring the lyrical sounds of piano, tenor sax and Harmon muted trumpet. One particularly beautiful passage featured the sounds of voice and double bass only. Instrumental solos came from Jones on piano, Glenister on tenor sax and Gardiner on melodic double bass with Haines switching to flugel for his solo.

It was a wonderful way to conclude an early evening jazz and poetry performance that had been both beautiful and provocative and full of adventurous musical ideas. A packed house at the Guildhall gave the sextet a terrific reception and the event represented a triumph for the performers, and particularly for arranger Cris Haines, and a fitting tribute to the creativity of the late Jen Wilson.

There have been a number of jazz projects that have drawn on the work of Dylan Thomas for inspiration, most notably Stan Tracey’s seminal “Under Milk Wood”. Pianist Huw Warren presented his own Dylan Thomas inspired suite “Do Not Go Gentle” at Brecon Cathedral as part of the 2014 Brecon Jazz Festival, the work having been commissioned to commemorate the centenary of Thomas’ birth. It is reviewed elsewhere on this site as part of that year’s Festival coverage.

Wilson’s contribution has been largely forgotten but today’s performance brought this intelligent and inventive work back into the public domain, and rightly so. Despite the occasional stumble the standard of the singing and playing was excellent throughout and the love and respect that the musicians felt for Wilson and her work was palpable throughout. This was a fitting memorial to an inspirational figure and a huge musical talent.

GEOFF EALES TRIO, ‘HOMECOMING’, GUILDHALL THEATRE

Geoff Eales – piano, Ursula Harrison – double bass, Liz Exell – drums

The evening’s second event at the Guildhall also had a Welsh theme.

Pianist Geoff Eales, originally from Aberbargoed in the Welsh Valleys, spent forty eight years living in London but has recently returned to Wales, hence the title of tonight’s themed concert.

During the course of a lengthy musical career dating back to the 1970s Eales has established himself as one of the UK’s leading jazz pianists and his music has explored a wide variety of jazz genres as well as embracing classical, folk and world music influences – and much more besides. Eales’ website http://www.geoffeales.com offers an insight into the sheer breadth and variety of the pianist’s musical activities.

The Jazzmann has reviewed a number of Eales’ recordings, these embracing a variety of musical styles and featuring a number of different line ups. I’ve also enjoyed a number of live performances by various Eales groups, including two previous Brecon Jazz Festival appearances, the most recent being a 2016 visit to the Castle Hotel with Eales leading the all female rhythm section of Erica Lyons (bass) and Romarna Campbell (drums).

That Castle Hotel appearance attracted a bumper crowd, as did tonight’s performance which saw Eales teamed with another all female rhythm team, the mighty ‘house rhythm section’ of bassist Ursula Harrison and drummer Liz Exell.

The overall ‘Homecoming’ theme saw Eales selecting a programme that honoured the Cardiff born songwriter Ivor Novello (1893-1951) in addition to a series of original compositions celebrating Eales’ Welsh heritage.

There was also a selection of well chosen jazz standards and Eales chose to start with one of these, the Cole Porter song “All Of You”, introduced by a passage of solo piano with Eales subsequently joined by Exell’s mallet rumbles and Harrison’s double bass. Exell switched to sticks as the music gathered momentum, with solos coming from Eales and Harrison, followed by a series of drum breaks from Exell.

Eales announced his first homage to Novello as “Eventually I Can Give You the Starlight”, which included a dramatic improvised opening section featuring the sounds of piano, double bass and mallet rumbles, with an unaccompanied piano passage acting as the bridge into the song itself. A swinging arrangement saw Exell graduating from brushes to sticks as the momentum of the music increased via solos from Eales and Harrison, these followed by a series of lively drum breaks.

A second Novello song, “We’ll Gather Lilacs” was also given the swinging jazz treatment with Eales and Exell the featured soloists. Eales expressed the opinion that Novello’s songs represented excellent vehicles for jazz improvisation and his surprise that they weren’t utilised in this context more often.

A sequence of Eales originals celebrating his Welsh heritage commenced with the ballad “Celtic Roots”, a tune with a lilting, folkish melody. Introduced by a passage of unaccompanied piano the piece also featured a melodic bass solo from the consistently impressive Harrison.

Named for the 6th century Welsh bard (as opposed to the 1968 Deep Purple album) “Taliesin’s Dance” was an intense and dramatic piece ushered in by Exell’s drums and Eales’ low end piano rumblings, with more conventional jazz solos subsequently coming from Eales and Harrison.

“Tanner’s Bop” was inspired by the Welsh folk singer Phil Tanner (1862-1950), also known as “The Gower Nightingale”. Eales was struck by the similarity between the melody lines of the kind of ‘riddly diddly’ traditional folk songs sung by Tanner and those of American bebop tunes of the 1940s and 50s. Using these folk / bebop melodies as a jumping off point for improvisation Eales’ tune included a quote filled piano solo from the leader plus further features for Harrison and Exell.

Eales dedicated his composition “Song For My Mother” to the memory of his mother, who passed away in 2015. One of his most popular and enduring compositions it first appeared on his magnificent 2009 trio album “Master Of The Game” and was also played at that 2016 BJF performance. Introduced by an extended passage of unaccompanied melody and with an elegiac hymn like melody the performance also included a delightfully melodic double bass solo from Harrison prior to the tune gaining something of an anthemic quality in its closing stages.

As in 2016 the celebrated Horace Silver composition “Song For My Father” was performed as a companion piece and was dedicated to Eales’ father, who passed away as recently as 2023. Eales Senior had even made a cameo appearance alongside his son at a 2007 BJF performance that had seen Geoff investigating the history of jazz piano. Silver’s tune, which also helped to inspire the Steely Dan hit “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”, needs little introduction and tonight represented the vehicle for solos from Eales, Harrison and Exell.

The trio returned to the standards repertoire for their last two numbers. A swinging version of the Victor Young composition “Beautiful Love” was another piece to include features for all three protagonists, with Eales and Exell entering into a series of vivacious piano and drum exchanges. Remarkably this was the first time that this trio had played together but they quickly established a strong rapport, encouraged by the piano and drums being set up facing each other. The success of the performance was a tribute to Exell and Harrison, both as sight readers and as keen eared improvisers.

As BJF organiser Lynne Gornall put it as she thanked the band the ‘Homecoming’ theme also embraced the concept of the returnee coming back and meeting new friends, and this was what had happened here, the smiles on the faces of Eales and Exell during their musical exchanges said it all.

The trio chose to finish with “Autumn Leaves”, the third version of the song I’d heard today, and for me the best, although Tatiana Eva-Marie’s French vocal version ran it pretty close. There were solos here from piano and bass plus more drum and piano interplay, with Eales adding classical flourishes to his musical armoury.

Another impressively large audience gave the members of the trio a rousing reception and this performance represented a triumphant ‘Homecoming’ for Geoff Eales.

Today’s three concert events were all very different, but all played to substantial audiences and all were very well received. If I had to pick a favourite it would probably be Geoff Eales, but it’s a close run thing.

 

 

 

 

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