Photograph of Paul Grabowsky and Mindy Meng Wang sourced from the EFG London Jazz Festival website http://www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk

EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL 2024

SECOND SUNDAY, 24//2024

AUSTRALIAN JAZZ SHOWCASE, KINGS PLACE HALL TWO

For me the final day of the 2024 EFG London Jazz Festival commenced with this lunchtime event featuring two ‘world jazz’ acts comprised of musicians based in Australia. The event was presented in conjunction with Melbourne International Jazz Festival with the choice of acts designed to illustrate the importance of cross-cultural collaboration in Australia and to emphasise the close links between jazz and various global folk traditions.

EISHAN ENSEMBLE

Hamed Sadeghi – tar, Michael Avgenicos – tenor saxophone, Max Alduca – double bass, Adam Yilmaz – percussion, vocals

Formed in Sydney in 2016 Eishan Ensemble is led by the Persian-Australian musician Hamed Sadeghi, a virtuoso of the tar, or Iranian lute. The Ensemble has played venues ranging from WOMAD to the Sydney Opera House, often works with guest musicians and has released three albums to date. The Ensemble’s material is exclusively written by Sadeghi, who also proved himself to be a talented composer.

Sadeghi has said of his writing for Eishan Ensemble;
“As a musician who is experiencing different ways of composition I found many similarities between eastern music and jazz which made me want to try writing music in a way that I could fuse tar – as a very classical Iranian instrument – with western instruments. I tried to use plucked string instruments such as double bass doing pizzicato with a woodwind instrument to make a deliberate contrast. It also gives enough space for the tar to be heard (bearing in mind that tar is a quite unknown instrument for westerners).”

The performance took place in almost Stygian darkness and is wasn’t that easy to see the musicians, let alone take notes, so I’m grateful to Hamed for talking me through the set list after the show. Seriously, though the lighting really was too subdued, presumably in an attempt to be atmospheric,  but it affected my enjoyment of the event.  I don’t know if other audience members felt the same, but then most of them wouldn’t have been trying to take notes.

In any event the performance began with “Tehran”, which introduced the sound of the tar, a four stringed lute, the name of the instrument a derivative of the Persian word for “four strings”. With the exception of bassist Alduca the members of the Ensemble were seated on stage and their ‘chamber jazz’ approach sometimes reminded me of the pioneering American ‘world jazz’ quartet Oregon.

“Bazar” was introduced by a passage of unaccompanied double bass and included solos from Sadeghi on tar and Avgenicos on tenor sax. In addition to Alduca’s bass rhythmic accompaniment was also provided by Yilmaz, whose percussion set up included a cajon, and who largely played deploying a combination of bare hands and mallets.

A passage of solo bowed bass introduced “By The Mountain”, the arco drone subsequently joined by the mournful cry of Avgenicos’ tenor sax. I was reminded of a kind of Middle Eastern version of Jan Garbarek. When the sax was replaced by the sound of the tar Alduca put down the bow to play pizzicato bass as Sadeghi soloed. As Avgenicos’ melodic tenor sax returned the music began to take on a hypnotic quality, the trance finally broken by a series of percussion breaks from Yilmaz.

“Black and White” featured the mesmerising sounds of Yilmaz’s wordless vocals in addition to solos from Sadeghi and Avgenicos. The leader’s tar solo included a virtuoso passage of unaccompanied playing.

“Nim Dong”, the title track of Eishan Ensemble’s 2018 debut album, was the most upbeat offering thus far with its dizzying unison tar and sax melodies, followed by solos from both Sadeghi and Avgenicos.

Yilmaz’s percussion feature provided the link into the Ensemble’s final tune of the afternoon,  “Not Really”. This was the only piece to deploy a conventional jazz structure with the solos of Sadeghi and Avegenicos followed by a series of exchanges between tar, tenor sax and percussion, the Austro-Iranian equivalent of “trading fours”.

This final item was particularly well received by the audience, as was the performance as a whole. Overall I enjoyed it and it was interesting to be introduced to the sound of the tar -it was the first time that I had seen the instrument played live.

That said I sometimes found the ‘chamber jazz’ approach to be a little bloodless and there was also the issue of the lighting. Peering through the gloom from the back of the room I couldn’t even discern the number of strings that the tar had until afterwards!

Sadeghi is also a member of the trio Vazesh, which also features saxophonist and bass clarinettist Jeremy Rose and Necks bassist Lloyd Swanton. The group released the album “Tapestry” on Rose’s Earshift Music imprint in November 2024 and I intend to take a look at this in due course, now armed with a little more knowledge about the tar.

MINDY MENG WANG / PAUL GRABOWSKY DUO

Mindy Meng Wang – guzheng, Paul Grabowsky – piano

The second performance featured Mindy Meng Wang, a multi-award winning virtuoso of the traditional Chinese stringed instrument the guzheng, a kind of plucked zither,  usually with twenty one strings, although some versions may have twenty five or twenty six.

Wang was partnered by Paul Grabowsky, one of Australia’s leading jazz pianists but also a musician, composer, broadcaster and academic with a broad outreach embracing many musical genres. In addition to his work as a jazz musician Grabowsky is also an award winning composer for cinema, television and theatre and is the founder of the cross-genre Australian Art Orchestra.

The performance began with “Ancient Memory”, ushered in by an unaccompanied passage from Wang, seated at the smaller of the two guzhengs on stage. She takes a very contemporary approach to the instrument and the sounds generated by her pitch bending techniques sometimes reminded me of the jazz / Americana music of guitarist Bill Frisell. Grabowsky subsequently joined her at the piano, finding his own way into the music and not afraid to introduce an element of wilful dissonance into the proceedings. An unaccompanied piano passage followed, incorporating strong rhythms and this allowed Wang to move to the other guzheng. This was essentially freely improvised music, but within an overall compositional framework and Wang joined him for a final section featuring Grabowsky’s Morse Code like piano rhythms, these suggesting the influence of Minimalism.

“Winter River” began in almost courtly fashion with Wang at the guzheng, but she was soon pushing the boundaries of this traditional Chinese instrument, with Grabowsky acknowledging her exploratory approach by reaching into the piano’s innards.

“East End Mirror” saw Wang using a bow on the strings of the guzheng and also slapping them, not traditional techniques as far as I can ascertain. Grabowsky answered her by again reaching into the interior of the piano as both musicians deployed extended techniques on their respective instruments.

A Chinese folk tune with a title translating as “Spring Flower”  was arguably the simplest and most straightforward piece to be played by the duo, but it was also the most beautiful, with a particularly lovely and memorable melody.

By way of contrast the closing “Night Storm” saw the duo summoning up some of the musical turbulence inherent in the title via the use of extended techniques on both instruments.  Grabowsky’s use of the piano’s innards was matched by Wang’s plucking and hammering of the guzheng’s strings, the pair combining to create a sound reminiscent of distant thunder.

This was an absorbing and enjoyable set from two virtuoso performers on their respective instruments. Wang and Grabowsky worked together well and exhibited an impressive rapport, a quality essential to the performance of this largely improvised music. The duo also shared the announcing duties, a further demonstration of the fact that this really was a partnership of equals.

This set was also well received by the audience and overall this was a highly successful Showcase event. I preferred this rigorous and sometimes challenging set from Wang and Grabowsky, but other preferred the more straightforwardly melodic, but still exotic, sounds of the Eishan Ensemble. Each to their own

MOMENT’S NOTICE, UNION CHAPEL ISLINGTON

Courtney Pine – tenor sax, alto flute, EWI, Petter Eldh – double bass, Femi Koleoso – drums, Yazz Ahmed – trumpet, flugelhorn, electronics, percussion, Farida Amadou – electric bass

One of the surprise successes on the London jazz scene of recent years has been the monthly “Moment’s Notice” series of freely improvised events curated by jazz photographer and all round mover and shaker George Nelson.

Regular events or “meetings” take place at Amp Studios on the Old Kent Road and typically feature five musicians who play in a variety of smaller permutations as well as improvising as a full quintet.

Today’s events featured the usual pattern but this special EFG LJF event took place in the grandiose surroundings of Union Chapel, a popular venue for me after previously attending a number of Daylight Music events at the venue.

The presence on the bill of big names like Courtney Pine and Ezra Collective drummer and leader Femi Koleoso helped to swell the crowd with a huge audience packing out Union Chapel for what must surely have been a record attendance for a free improv gig. Indeed Nelson made this point himself, recalling that the first Moment’s Notice event in 2020 attracted an audience of just thirty five..

The running order of today’s event had to be altered as Farida Amadou, who is based in Belgium, was subjected to travel delays on her way to the venue. Her duo with Yazz Ahmed had been due to go on first, but instead the show opened with the trio of Pine, Eldh and Koleoso.

This performance began with Pine on synth like EWI, improvising above an electronically tanpura like drone,  this continuing as Eldh set up a bass motif that functioned as a groove, with Koleoso subsequently joining in at the kit, his drum tattoos combining with Eldh’s basslines and the still ongoing drone.

Pine moved to alto flute, prowling the stage as the music continued to gather intensity, but it has to be said that sometimes the flute was a little too low in the mix. The sound engineers picked up on this and attempted to adjust the balance, with a limited degree of success.

Koleoso’s drumming gradually became more assertive as he slammed out hypnotic, motorik style rhythms, the hitherto omnipresent drone fading away as Pine switched to tenor sax, his first notes a clarion call that heralded some serious shredding followed by a series of ferocious sax and drum exchanges.

Crouching belligerently Pine then entered into a further dialogue with the always impressive Eldh as Koleoso temporarily sat out.

This half hour collective improvisation represented a good start and it was good to see Pine challenging himself in this freely improvised context, even if he was a bit over dominant at times.
He’s a born showman and can’t seem to help himself. Subsequently he extolled the triumphs of Koleoso and acknowledged saxophonist Evan Parker and the late drummer John Stevens for helping to get him into a free jazz, all of which represented a welcome display of humility.

Once Amadou had arrived her duo with Ahmed was the next act to take to the stage. Nelson drew comparisons between Amadou and the Italian born, UK based bassist and vocalist Ruth Goller, but it has to be said that each has their own unique approach to the electric bass.

Amadou commenced playing seated, her bass on her lap as she played it using the kind of ‘hammering on’ techniques pioneered by guitarist Stanley Jordan. Later she also deployed beaters on the strings, but there were other moments that featured more conventional bass guitar techniques.

Meanwhile Ahmed was featured on flugel, looping and layering her sound via a floor mounted effects unit and other electronics. As in the previous set a drone was incorporated into the duo’s sound.

Ahmed later switched to trumpet, soloing above a combination of an electric bass groove that sounded almost drum-like, and her own whistling, white noise electronics.

A solo electric bass passage again featured the use of drum sticks on strings. Meanwhile Ahmed looped the sounds of small percussion and also her trumpet, again creating layers of sound.

Amadou stood up for the first time a she set up a thrumming bass groove that underpinned a strident trumpet solo. Ahmed’s playing was layered and echoed via the use of electronics and was simultaneously melodic and probing, gradually developing to embrace a widescreen, electronically enhanced magnificence.

This was followed by a quieter passage featuring twinkling, celestial electronics as Ahmed moved back to flugel.

Finally Amadou established a strummed bass groove, this allied to the whoosh of electronics as Ahmed delivered a last flugel solo, the improvisation concluding with a slow and gradual diminuendo.

If anything I enjoyed this more than the earlier trio episode. In general the trajectory of the improvisation was less predictable and Ahmed’s use of electronics genuinely creative and imaginative.

Amadou’s late arrival allied to Nelson’s long winded presenting style had assured that the event was now running seriously late. We had been at the venue since 5.30 and it was now seven thirty, but we had probably heard less than an hour of actual music. I was scheduled to cover another event at 9.15 and had actually thought that I would have plenty of time between the end of this show and the start of the next one. It was now patently obvious that this was not going to be the case. I decided that I would catch as much of the quintet improvisation as I could, but that there was no way I could stop to the end, especially as it was likely to take an age to clear such a crowded venue. However I will describe what I did actually manage to see and hear.

In an unusual line up featuring two bass players, one acoustic, one electric, what I assumed to be a single set length improvisation began with the sound of Amadou’s electric bass, subsequently joined by Pine on alto flute. Eldh then added droning arco bass and Ahmed breathy trumpet. With Koleoso still holding fire these four musicians created an impressively resonant sound that benefited immensely from the church acoustics.

Amadou on lap top bass and Pine on alto flute then engaged in an absorbing dialogue before being joined by flugel and drums.  Ahmed then took over the lead, announcing herself with a ringing clarion call that was uncannily reminiscent of “The Last Post”. As her solo continued she wove subtle electronic embellishments into the fabric of the music, which began to take on an increasingly song-like structure, anchored by Koleoso’s underpinning drum groove. 

The hypnotic grooves continued as Pine re-assumed the lead, soloing on alto flute and entering into a series of exchanges with Ahmed’s flugel.

Ahmed switched to trumpet as her playing again came to the fore, her solo again followed by that of Pine, who had now switched to EWI, although he still continued to move between EWI and flute. Ahmed continued to augment her own sound with the intelligent use of electronics and more than held her own in relation to the often domineering Pine. I left at the conclusion of Pine’s EWI ‘set piece’ solo but did so with the feeling that I knew exactly where this improvisation, we were already more than half an hour in, was going. Sooner or later Pine would make his final switch to tenor and blow the hell out of the thing as the music built to towards an inexorable climax. On the evidence of what we’d seen so far I was confident that Ahmed would be more than happy to go toe to toe with him in the final stages. Room might also have been found for set piece episodes from the other musicians too.

Overall I did enjoy this event and was genuinely disappointed that I couldn’t stay to the end and see how the quintet improvisation really did pan out. It was genuinely pleasing to see such a huge crowd for an improvised music event and George Nelson is to be congratulated for the fine work he has done in establishing Moment’s Notice as a major force on the London music scene. However he maybe needs to rein the verbosity of his presentation style when an event forms part of a wider Festival. At regular club events it’s probably not really an issue and has arguably helped with regard to the creation of the air of mystique that surrounds the cult series of music events that is “Moment’s Notice”

DESCHANEL GORDON TRIO, CRAZY COQS

Deschanel Gordon – piano, Will Sach- double bass, Will Cleasby – drums
with guest Iacopo Teolis - trumpet

My final gig of the 2024 EFG LJF was this performance at Crazy Coqs featuring a trio led by pianist and composer Deschanel Gordon, a Londoner of Jamaican heritage who was the winner of the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year Award in 2020.

Although I have seen Gordon perform on numerous occasions as a member of the bands of others this represented the first time that I had seen him as a leader and playing his own compositions and arrangements.

Gordon has featured on the Jazzmann web pages in a sideman capacity in bands variously led by drummers Romarna Campbell and Rod Oughton, saxophonist Alex Hitchcock and trumpeter Mark Kavuma. Indeed he had played a brief cameo with Kavuma’s Banger Factory band at an EFG LJF performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall only the previous Sunday, a performance that is reviewed elsewhere on this site.

Others with whom Gordon has worked include saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi’s SEED Ensemble, Nubya Garcia, Courtney Pine and US vocalist Judi Jackson. As a pianist he names Oscar Peterson, Mulgrew Miller, Herbie Hancock, Cedar Walton and Chick Corea as being among his primary influences.

Tonight’s performance featured Gordon in the company of his regular rhythm section, Will Sach on double bass and Will Cleasby, the latter also part of the Banger Factory family, at the drums.

The trio began with an arrangement of the Herbie Hancock composition “One Finger Snap”. A loosely structured intro featuring Gordon’s ornate piano flourishes, Cleasby’s mallet rumbles and Sach’s underpinning piece gradually evolved into a more straightforward jazz groove that formed the basis for some bravura piano soloing from the leader. Cleasby also seized his moment in the spotlight with an extended drum feature.

The only original composition of the evening was Gordon’s “Enchanting Chants”, which commenced with an extended unaccompanied piano introduction. Double bass and brushed drums were then added to the equation on this melodic and attractive example of Gordon’s writing. The pianist was featured on a more conventional jazz solo and there was also a delightfully melodic bass feature from Sach.

Gordon name-checked the late, great Mulgrew Miller (1955-2013) as he introduced Miller’s composition “Go East Young Man”. This was a sturdy, uptempo piece of modern mainstream jazz with Gordon soloing in buccaneering fashion, fuelled by Sach’s propulsive bass lines and Cleasby’s crisp drumming. Cleasby then enjoyed a further drum feature towards the close.

Gordon now welcomed guest trumpeter Iacopo Teolis to the stage. The young Italian trumpeter is currently a student at the Royal Academy of Music and Gordon was impressed with his playing when the two were part of a late night jam (with Gordon playing drums) at Ronnie Scott’s.

Teolis joined the trio for a version of Thelonious Monk’s ballad “Round Midnight”, a blues tinged version featuring the sounds of Teolis’ Chet Baker style trumpeting and Cleasby’s brushed drums. As the tempo increased both Gordon and Teolis were featured as soloists, with the piece ending with an unaccompanied trumpet cadenza.

Gordon informed us that he has also worked with the pop singer Olivia Dean. Nobody in an exclusively jazz audience seemed to know who she is, although I did have a slight memory of having heard the name. All this was by way of announcing a jazz instrumental arrangement of her song “UFO”, which was performed by the core trio and which included two passages of unaccompanied piano in addition to more conventional jazz trio playing, with Cleasby deploying brushes throughout. It all worked very well, and I made mental note to check out Dean’s original.

Teolis rejoined the trio for the final number of the evening, an arrangement of the late Cedar Walton’s composition “Cedar’s Blues”. A genuine blues the structure of the piece allowed plenty of room for improvisation and self expression and the performance included dazzling solos from Gordon and Teolis, plus features for both Sach and Cleasby, the drummer also entering into a series of fiery exchanges with guest trumpeter Teolis.

The encore was a trio version of the standard “Old Folks”, with the leader the featured soloist.

This was a hugely enjoyable performance and featured some excellent playing, particularly from the leader. Gordon is a superb technician and an inspired soloist and he and the trio are due to record their debut album in 2025. Whilst the recording will be eagerly awaited it will be interesting to see how much of Gordon’s original writing will be featured. I was impressed with “Enchanted Chants”
but would liked to have heard further examples of Gordon’s own material. I do feel that he needs to write more if he is to take the next step up the jazz ladder.

I was also impressed by Sach and Cleasby, both excellent technicians who have established an excellent rapport with Gordon. Teolis also impressed, but was more convincing as a soloist on the uptempo “Cedar’ Blues” than he was on the ballad “Round Midnight”. However that will come with maturity and it should be remembered that he is still a student musician, albeit one with bags of potential, as Gordon has recognised.

My thanks to Deschanel for chatting with me after the show and for clarifying the set list. Although I have seen him play on numerous previous occasions this was the first chance that we have had to have a proper conversation. He never got the chance to see Mulgrew Miller or Cedar Walton play live and was rather envious of the fact that I had seen them both. Cheers, Deschanel, I’m looking forward to hearing that debut album.

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW and THANKS

Back at EFG LJF for the first time in five years I was reminded of just what a great cultural event this is and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I enjoyed every single performance that I saw, my choices taking in a wide variety of jazz genres and a similarly broad range of locations, ranging from concert halls to tiny clubs plus, a basement rock venue. Exciting new musical discoveries included the Nikol Bokova Quartet and Harper Trio.

If I had to pick out two stand out performances it would have to be the Emma Rawicz Quintet and the Alice Zawadzki / Fred Thomas / Misha Mullov-Abbado trio, both of which happened in Hall One at Kings Place.

My thanks to William Burgess of Practise Music for arranging press tickets for my wife and myself and to our hosts Paul and Richard for putting us up for the duration of the Festival.

In addition to the music it was also a delight to meet so many lovely people along the way, among them friends, musicians, promoters, venue owners, publicists, other journalists, and of course fellow jazz fans. Jazz may be a minority music but the enthusiasm and warmth of the jazz community is second to none. Spending a week or more at EFG LJF just makes me proud to be a part of it. I hope that my writing has managed to capture some of that spirit and I hope to be back again in 2025.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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