Image of Mark Kavuma sourced from the EFG London Jazz Festival website https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/

EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL 2024

FIRST SUNDAY, 17/11/2024

WORLD HEART BEAT and the JULIAN JOSEPH JAZZ ACADEMY PRESENT ‘TOGETHER WE GO FORWARD” 606 JAZZ CLUB, CHELSEA

It’s always a pleasure to return to one of my favourite London jazz venues, the 606 Club in Chelsea. I usually visit the Club for their Sunday lunchtime specials, thus availing myself of one of their excellent roast dinners before the music gets underway.

This year, my first visit for over five years, followed the usual pattern. My thanks are due to the Club’s press and marketing manager, Laura Thorne, for arranging my press tickets and to proprietor Steve Rubie and his team for their warm welcome and for their delicious food.

The event that I selected to cover reflected both my love of the “Six” and my commitment to supporting young jazz musicians. Gathered together under the collective title “We Go Forward” today’s event showcased the work of two of London’s leading jazz education establishments, the World Heart Beat Jazz Academy and the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy.

The first ensemble to take to the stage featured the young musicians of the World Heart Beat Jazz Academy. Based at Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms west London World Heartbeat is a venue with a cafe, bar, performance space and recording studio. It is a regular venue for EFG LJF events and also runs its own jazz programme throughout the year.

WHB also hosts regular music workshops for young people with jazz representing just one of the musical genres on the curriculum, the others ranging from Cuban to classical. The tutors on the jazz course include such leading musicians as trumpeter Byron Wallen and saxophonist Tony Kofi. It’s an impressive set up. Further information about World Heart Beat and its work, plus its live performance schedule can be found on its website.
https://worldheartbeat.org/embassy-gardens/

Today’s performance was introduced by WHB founder Sahana Gero MBE who told us something about the organisation and its work.

The WHB ensemble then took to the stage, a very young group directed by (I think) Head of Jazz Alex Thomas-French. As at Crazy Coqs with the Royal Academy of Music Jazz Orchestra it was impossible to accurately get the names of personnel from the on stage announcements, and as I had to dash away immediately after the show to get to another gig it was impossible for me to gather the necessary information afterwards. The speedy departure was partially caused by TFL problems on the day, otherwise I might have been able to hang round for a little longer. If anybody from WHB is reading this and can supply me with personnel listings I’ll gladly edit them into this piece. I got some first names so I’ll use those when I can.

Featuring two alto saxophones, three flutes, trumpet, piano, bass and drums this was a very young ensemble with some of the players probably not yet teenagers. Nevertheless they acquitted themselves very well on the opening “St. Louis Blues”, which included solos for flute, piano and Nicholas on trumpet.

Thomas-French explained that the young musicians learnt by ear, directly from recordings by illustrious jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong.

The second piece, “Dream A Little Dream”,  featured the contrasting vocals of singers Nicole and Olivia and featured Thomas-French at the piano. There was also a solo from bassist Louis and a change at the drum kit from the previous number as further musicians were introduced.

Further changes of personnel continued throughout the set. An Errol Garner inspired version of “Dinah” introduced a number of older students, with alto saxophonist Sam impressing as the featured soloist,

Eighteen year old Izzy, now a university student,  but still loyal to the WHB Academy, joined the ensemble to sing the Gershwin song “There’s A Boat That’s Leaving Soon for New York”. Further changes took place in the bass and drum chairs and tutor Thomas-French was a featured soloist at the piano.

The full quota of WHB students assembled for the closing “Mack The Knife”, which featured the sound of the violin for the first time and also included more vocals from Izzy. There were also multiple instrumental solos as the young musicians signed off in style.

This was a very significant event for these young musicians and their joy and excitement at appearing at such a prestigious jazz venue as the 606 was obvious throughout. A sell out audience, which doubtless included many friends and family gave them a terrific reception, and one that was very well earned.

Also based in London the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy was founded by the renowned pianist, composer, bandleader, educator and radio presenter Julian Joseph. Joseph is also a patron of WHB, so the links between the two organisations are very close, hence today’s double bill.

Today’s second set featured an older group of students, all fifteen years of age or more, billed as “Julian’s Band” and fronted by impressive nineteen year old trumpeter Tom.

Their set began with an opening drum salvo from the outstanding fifteen year old multi-instrumentalist Ellis, who was later to feature at the piano. Tom on trumpet and Ruben on tenor then combined to state the theme to Freddie Hubbard’s tune “On the Que-Tee” from the 1967 Hubbard album “Backlash”. This muscular slice of hard bop featured solos from Tom and from pianist Nandi. The rousing playing of the featured soloists and of the band as a whole got this second set off to a terrific start.

A version of the Benny Golson composition “Whisper Not” introduced vocalist Ava Joseph, niece of Julian and an alumnus of both the JJJA and WHB. There was also a change in the drum chair as Ellis moved to piano, from where he shared the instrumental solos with Tom and Ruben.

Ava remained on stage, visibly growing in confidence as she sang the Cole Porter song “I Concentrate on You”, which also saw Ellis continuing to impress at the piano.

He moved back to the drums for a second Benny Golson tune, this time the instrumental “I Remember Clifford”, Golson’s tribute to trumpeter Clifford Brown (1930-56), who tragically lost his life in an automobile accident at the age of just twenty five. By way of contrast the great Golson has only just left us, at the age of ninety five. Appropriately this piece proved to be a feature for Tom, who impressed with the depth and maturity of his ballad playing.

There was something of a Golson theme going on and this set concluded with the saxophonist’s composition “Stablemates”, a favourite jazz / bebop standard. Introduced by Jacob at the drums this featured yet another edition of the ensemble with the featured soloists including Tom on trumpet, Ruben on tenor, Nandi on piano and Hass on double bass.

This had been an excellent set from a pool of hugely accomplished young musicians. The clarity of Tom’s announcements had allowed me to pick up all the names (only first names were used) and I predict a bright future for all the members of this group. The standard of the playing suggested that all of them are on the cusp ‘turning pro’ and playing paid gigs whilst furthering their musical education at institutions such as the RAM, Trinity Laban or the Guildhall   - or maybe even away from London of course.

The deserved encore was a blistering version of Charlie Parker’s “Dexterity” with Ellis back on drums and with Ruben, Tom and Nandi really ‘going for it’ on their solos. Finally Ellis enjoyed a series of exchanges with his colleagues before embarking on a full on drum solo. Outrageously talented on both the drum kit and the piano the youngest member of the band is certainly a name to look out for in the future.

By this time Julian Joseph had arrived at the club, having dashed to the venue from an earlier gig engagement and was able to say a few words at the close of the event, sharing the platform with Sahana Gero.

Thus ended a very enjoyable afternoon of music making. Thanks to the 606 and to the young musicians of both WHB and JJJA. Sorry I had to rush away so quickly and was unable to stay and converse at the close.

NORMAN and CORRIE, KINGS PLACE, HALL TWO

Norman Willmore -alto saxophone, electronics, Corrie Dick – drums, percussion, electronics

A lengthy walk to Sloane Square tube station (most of the trains from Imperial Wharf seemed to be cancelled) was followed by a quick dash across town by tube to Kings Place.

I got there just in time, with the duo of alto saxophonist Norman Willmore and drummer Corrie Dick already on stage and being introduced to the audience. Fortunately I didn’t miss any of the actual music.

I’d heard great things about the pair’s duo shows and as both musicians were already familiar to me I was particularly looking forward to this performance.

Originally from Shetland Willmore was a student at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) in Cardiff and during his time in the Welsh capital I enjoyed hearing his playing on a number of occasions with various ensembles in location in Brecon and Cardiff. This included him leading his own quintet at a ‘New Generation Jazz - Showcase Wales’ event at Brecon Jazz Club in 2018.

Originally from Glasgow Corrie Dick is arguably best known as the drummer of choice for trumpeter Laura Jurd and her various projects, including the Mercury nominated quartet Dinosaur. He is also a talented composer and bandleader in his own right, releasing two albums under his own name and leading his Sun Swells group, named for the title of his second album. Dick is also an in demand sideman, working with a wide variety of jazz artists across a broad musical spectrum. He is also a vital member of the trio Glasshopper, led by saxophonist and fellow Glaswegian Jonathan Chung.

The duo were launching their debut album “Twa Double Doubles”, which had been released just two days previously on November 15th 2024. The duo seems primarily to be Willmore’s project as it draws extensively on the traditional music of his naive Shetland. Prior to the recording the pair had spent time in Shetland absorbing the music and traditions. Here’s what their Bandcamp page says about the making of the album;

405 miles later, Corrie met Norman in Glasgow. they drove a further 145 miles to Aberdeen to board the 14-hour ferry across the North Sea to the Shetland Islands, Norman’s childhood home. Three weeks were spent learning traditional tunes from people in person and from the ghosts of archival tapes. these melodies were then worked like clay from the banks of the burn, shaped into the album we present to you.. Enjoy.
Norman&Corrie’

Tonight’s performance was conducted in near darkness, which resulted in an air of hushed reverence from the audience, but which made note taking extremely difficult, so apologies for not giving a strictly accurate tune by tune account.

Set up facing each other Willmore and Dick gave an intimate musical performance, responding to each others’ visual cues and with Willmore handling all the announcements, his verbal ramblings reflecting the joys and idiosyncrasies of island life.

The first piece began with Willmore’s alto sketching folk melodies above an electronically generated drone, subsequently augmented by Dick’s delicate brush work. I’ve always regarded Dick as one of the world’s most inherently ‘musical’ drummers, a painter at the drum kit, a quality shared by his fellow Scot Sebastian Rochford. In time the music speeded up, transforming into a jig or reel. Several of the pieces tonight featured sets of tunes in the folk tradition. I was able to catch the titles of some, but by no means all.

The next item was introduced by an extended unaccompanied drum passage, the music eventually metamorphosing into a folk melody with the advent of Willmore’s sax solo. Had the lights been up this fascinating mix of jazz improvisation and folk melody might have proved to be eminently danceable.

“West Side Bride’s March” began with an electronic pulse that sounded like the dripping of water. Echoed sax melodies combined with Dick’s painterly drumming, the music subsequently acquiring a raw, elemental power via the combination of Willmore’s echoed, foghorn like sax blasts and Dick’s increasingly powerful drumming.

Named for a Shetland blacksmith “Robbie Tampson’s Smiddie” offered more of the same, with the sound of Willmore’s alto again distorted by electronic manipulation.

A New Year song segued into a reel while “Hamish The Carpenter” combined wispy sax and electronics with delicate mallet rumbles and the ethereal sounds of small percussion, until this too evolved into a reel.

“The Mavis Grind”, named for a geographical feature on the Shetland island of Northmavine, featured Dick’s own electronics in addition to an extended solo drum episode that demonstrated his unique creativity behind the kit.

The set “John O Voe / Da Oyster”  featured some of Willmore’s most garrulous sax playing. This was followed by his original “Death and Scarcity”, which fitted in neatly with the overall aesthetic and was sometimes reminiscent of the folk influenced music of Jan Garbarek.

The combination of “Unst Bridal March” and “Old Fuller’s Reel” progressed via a flute like opening sax melody, accompanied by delicately brushed drums, via an electronic pulse into a joyous and highly rhythmic reel. Again this was a piece that was potentially danceable and heads could be seen bobbing and nodding all around the venue.

A set of tunes featuring the title track “Twa Double Doubles” began with Dick sketching melodies on his drums to the accompaniment of an electronic drone. The introduction of Willmore’s alto, allied to an electronic pulse, led into a powerful closing section based around a reel and featuring a garrulous sax and drum dialogue.

The performance concluded with a performance of the “troll tune” “Haltadans”, with Dick featuring on both drums and electronics.

This was an intriguing performance that combined jazz improvisation, folk melody and electronics. Willmore has matured greatly as a musician since his days at RWCMD, but even back in 2018 his writing was incorporating elements inspired by his Shetland upbringing.  “Twa Double Doubles” is a very personal album for him and sits well within a Scottish tradition of combining folk with jazz, as pioneered by the likes of Ken Hyder, Colin Steele, Tom and Phil Bancroft and many more.

In Corrie Dick Willmore has found the perfect musical partner, a consistently intelligent and imaginative drummer capable of playing across a wide range of musical styles. As ever his performance was hugely impressive.

MARK KAVUMA PRESENTS “MAGNUM OPUS”, QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL

Another quick dash across town and to the Southbank Centre where trumpeter Mark Kavuma was launching his new album “Magnum Opus” at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Originally from Uganda but a long time London resident Kavuma is also a composer, bandleader and record label owner and tonight also represented a celebration of his Banger Factory record label and its associated musical community.

Again I arrived just in time for the announcements as promoter and DJ Gordon Wedderburn introduced the evening’s proceedings, specifically highlighting the community ethos of the “Banger Factory Family”.

Kavuma has been a fairly regular presence on the Jazzmann web pages ever since I caught an enjoyable snippet of his performance as the co-leader, alongside saxophonist Ruben Fox,  of a quintet on the Barbican Freestage at the 2013 EFG LJF.

I have since reviewed his albums “Kavuma” (2018) and “The Banger Factory” (2019), both released on Ubuntu Music.

After establishing the Banger Factory label and also using the title as a band name Kavuma issued the excellent “Arashi No Ato” in 2021. This first release on the Banger Factory label was quickly followed by “Legacy”, recorded by members and alumni of Kinetika Bloco, a London based music charity founded in 2000 by the late musician, composer and educator Matthew John Fox, known to all as Mat.
Kavuma cites Kinetika Bloco as an important part of his musical education and continues to be involved with the organisation. Both “Arashi No Ato” and “Legacy” are reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann.

As Wedderburn stated tonight was all about the wider Banger Factory family and the evening commenced with a short ‘support slot’ from a quartet led by multi-instrumentalist Artie Zaitz.

Although best known as a guitarist Zaitz is also a skilled organist and appears on this instrument on his 2022 release with Kavuma “Back To Back” (Banger Factory Records). The core duo is augmented by drummer Will Cleasby and the album is again reviewed on The Jazzmann. You can see why I wanted to be a part of tonight’s event.

With his guitarist’s hat on Zaitz has recently released the acclaimed Banger Factory album “The Regulator” and tonight’s show featured the core quartet from this record with the great Ross Stanley on Hammond organ, Dave Pattman on congas and percussion and the ever swinging Steve Brown at the drum kit.

A brief four song set commenced with Zaitz’s composition “Some Extent”, a swinging affair featuring fluent solos from the leader on guitar and Stanley on a ‘proper’ Hammond organ, dubbed ‘Big Bertha’, complete with Leslie speaker cabinet.

The group is essentially an ‘organ trio’ with Pattman’s congas included to add a little Latin American exotica. These were employed to good effect on a Latin-esque arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma”, which again included solos from Zaitz and Stanley.

Written by Artie’s guitarist father Jake Zaitz (who was to make an appearance later on in the evening) “Boogaloo Ga Goo” combined funk and Latin elements and featured Artie’s signature guitar ‘twang’, with Stanley again the other featured soloist.

Finally we heard the title track from “The Regulator”, a tune actually written by Kavuma. Stanley took the first solo on Hammond, followed by the leader on guitar, who injected a little musical humour into the proceedings. The performance was also notable for an enjoyable drum and percussion feature as Pattman and Brown were finally given their head.

This was an enjoyable taste of Zaitz’s new album and I have no doubt that a full length performance from this group would also be a very satisfying live experience. It was certainly an excellent curtain raiser for what was to follow.

The rest of the first half featured Kavuma and the wider Banger Factory ensemble, who were welcomed to the stage by Wedderburn.

The opening number, the hymn “Near The Cross” featured the full group, with two tenor saxes, two altos, three trombones, trumpet, guitar, piano, electric piano, organ, double bass, drum kit and vibraphone. Gospel tinged and featuring swelling Hammond this piece embraced a wide screen quasi-orchestral magnificence that recalled Kamasi Washington.

Following this the group was split into smaller, but often still quite sizeable units. “Wayward’s Return”, written by tenor saxophonist Mussinghi Brian Edwards featured a stunning piano solo from Deschanel Gordon, who subsequently had to disappear to play a gig in another part of town. Kavuma was determined to have him on the date, so this represented a good compromise. I was to catch up with Gordon again later on in the Festival. Further solos came from alto saxophonist Theo Erskine, Kavuma on trumpet and composer Edwards on tenor.

Noah Stoneman, who had previously been featured on electric piano, took over from Gordon for his own composition “June”. Although this piece was billed as a feature for the rhythm section it proved to be an unexpectedly melodic piece featuring a lyrical four mallet vibraphone solo from David Mrakpor, this followed by further solos from Artie Zaitz on guitar and the composer on piano.

Guest artist Sahra Gure was welcomed to the stage to sing her own song “Lucky To Be Loved”, a ballad that featured the sound of Zaitz on Hammond, underpinned by Jack Thomas’ brushed drums. Instrumental solos came from Erskine on alto and Jack Garside on melodic double bass. This item was particularly well received by a supportive audience at the QEH.

The personnel continued to rotate as a third pianist, Mathis Picard, came to the stool to deliver an excellent solo on Kavuma’s composition “Cedar Tree”, a dedication to the late, great pianist and composer Cedar Walton (1934-2013). This vibrant and celebratory piece also included further solos from the composer on trumpet, Edwards on tenor, Erskine on alto, Stoneman on electric piano and finally Thomas at the drums.

The first set ended on a surprisingly reflective note with Kavuma’s “Lullaby To A Falling Star”, ushered in by a suitably luminous unaccompanied vibes intro from the excellent Mrakpor. Zaitz returned to the guitar as Reuben James joined the ensemble on Hammond. Rich, warmly textured horn arrangements framed lucid solos from Kavuma, Edwards and Mrakpor, the music further enhanced by sympathetic lighting.

A long first half was followed by a similarly lengthy second. This really was a value for money show.

Set two was introduced by Gary Crosby and Janine Irons of the Tomorrow’s Warriors organisation, another institution with which Kavuma has close ties, since first joining in 2013.

There were yet more personnel changes with the horn section expanding with the addition of alto saxophonist Rachael Cohen, tenor saxophonist Ruben Fox and trombonist Wilf Diamond, while Will Cleasby took over from Thomas at the drum kit.  It was appropriate that bassist Crosby should announce the ensemble’s version of Charles Mingus’ “Opus Four”, which saw the enlarged horn section affecting a big, Mingus like sound. Individual solos came from Cohen on alto, Diamond on trombone and Picard at the piano, with Cleasby responding from the drums.

Kavuma acknowledged his debt to Kinetika Bloco and particularly his trumpet mentor Claude Deppa. A version of “Fools Rush In” was arranged by trombonist Misha Fox, brother of Ruben and son of Mat. A ballad arrangement was ushered in by a passage of unaccompanied piano from Reuben James and included a tenor sax solo from Ruben Fox. Misha was featured as a vocalist, but his performance, although rapturously received by the audience, was all a bit too ‘lounge lizard’ for me and verged on self parody.

More to my taste were the bluesy, soulful vocals of the nest guest, singer Marcina Arnold on a passionate rendition of her own song “Woulda Shoulda Coulda”.  This number also included Jake Zaitz, described by Kavuma as “a Banger Factory” original,  on guitar as Artie switched to Hammond. The charismatic Jake impressed as an instrumental soloist, followed by Ruben Fox on tenor sax. Arnold’s ballsy singing echoed such vocalists as Etta James and Tina Turner.

Kavuma has recently been working closely with Rachael Cohen and the pair intend to record an album together next year. Cohen’s composition “CK1” featured a small group with Thomas returning at the drum kit. Also present were Stoneman on piano, Mrakpor on vibes and Garside on bass. A fast moving, hard bop flavoured piece featured the co-leaders prominently but also included solos from piano, vibes and drums. The resultant album should be well worth hearing.

Kavuma has also worked closely with Erskine, with whom he recorded the 2023 album “Ultrasound”, another Banger Factory release to have been reviewed by The Jazzmann. Erskine’s composition “”Solicism”, an elegant and lyrical ballad,  included solos from the leader on alto, plus Edwards on tenor, Kavuma on trumpet, Mrakpor on vibes and Diamond on trombone. The piece concluded with an unaccompanied alto sax cadenza from the composer.

With three outstanding pianists in the band’s ranks (four if you count the absent Gordon) Kavuma was determined to feature all of them, so the next three pieces were all piano showcases.

First Picard delivered a stunning solo piano performance that paid homage to both Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith and Duke Ellington.

Reuben James performed Kavuma’s composition “Brother James” in piano trio format with the help of Garside and Cleasby. Introduced by a passage of unaccompanied piano this was a composition that had something of the feel of a jazz standard and which included an increasingly percussive solo from James, with drummer Cleasby the perfect foil.

Thomas took over the drum chair for Stoneman’s feature, a trio version of the Mussinghi Brian Edwards composition “Headz”. This was another impressive performance and it was good to see James and Stoneman choosing to play compositions from other members of the Banger Factory family, helping to foster that feeling of solidarity.

A long evening concluded with everybody, bar Gordon and Stanley, returning to the stage for “Pink Sky”, an Artie Zaitz composition. With Brown, Cleasby and Gure all playing various items of percussion the featured soloists were Artie Zaitz on guitar,  Misha Fox on trombone and Ruben Fox on tenor, plus a conga battle between Dave Pattman and the multi-talented Marcina Arnold. The mood was suitably celebratory and brought a rich and varied evening of music making to a close.

The Banger Factory spirit of community and family had been encapsulated in these performances, as had the Tomorrow’s Warriors message of “Each One Teach One”.

Some audience members felt that the show had been a bit too long and questioned the inclusion of the three piano features towards the close. Maybe they had a point but these were as good as anything else that we had heard and certainly justified their inclusion as far as I was concerned.

After the show I was delighted to speak briefly with Mark Kavuma and to enjoy a coffee with publicist Emma Perry, with whom I have worked regularly over the years and who has been a great help to me.

And I was also buzzing after snapping up the last Banger Factory Records T-shirt that was available in my size!

Transport issues aside a very good day all round.

 

 

 

 

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