Photograph of Mark Guiliana by Shervin Lainez

EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL, TUESDAY NOVEMBER 14th 2017

GLASSHOPPER, PIZZA EXPRESS JAZZ CLUB, SOHO

Today’s lunchtime performance at Pizza Express featured Glasshopper, a young British trio led by saxophonist and composer Jonathan Chung. The group was a replacement for the advertised performance by New York based pianist Mathis Picard and his trio.

Chung and his colleagues, guitarist James Kitchman and drummer Corrie Dick stepped into the breach brilliantly with an intriguing set of Chung originals that included two songs sung by guest vocalist Ed Begley.

Originally from Scotland Chung is now based in London following his studies at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2016 Glasshopper released a three track EP and it is to be hoped that they get the opportunity to record a full length album at some point in the future.

Specialising on tenor sax Chung proved to be an evocative writer whose tunes blended traditional jazz virtues with more modern developments including the subtle and effective use of electronics Kitchman frequently deployed his guitar as a textural device, skilfully making use of his FX pedals.
Meanwhile Dick’s drumming was consistently colourful and inventive as he gave a compelling performance behind the kit. As the drummer with Laura Jurd’s Mercury award nominated Dinosaur and also the leader of his own group Dick was probably the best known musician of the three. But this was unmistakably Chung’s group with the saxophonist taking the lion’s share of the solos.

Opener “Fortune Rules” was a good demonstration of the group’s virtues with Chung’s authoritative sax soloing allied to Kitchman’s sophisticated guitar chording and sound-washes and Dick’s bright, neatly detailed drumming.

An atmospheric segue of “Sky Circle” and “Letters”, the latter tune featuring on the trio’s EP followed. A quiet, atmospheric intro featured Chung’s brooding tenor complemented by Dick’s percussion shadings, including the evocative use of finger cymbals, and Kitchman’s ambient, echoed guitar washes. As the segue gathered momentum Kitchman’s guitar solo was complemented by Dick’s nimble drumming before Chung’s tenor took over, gradually building on what had gone before.

Chung spoke of how the tunes he was writing found him imagining “words and meanings in my head”. These were given voice by Ed Begley, best known for his collaborations with trumpeter and composer Rory Simmons on the projects Archivist and Monocled Man. Indeed Begley had guested at Monocled Man’s Cheltenham Jazz Festival performance earlier in 2017.

Here he performed with a quiet dignity, adding gravitas to Chung’s lyrics with their bridge building building imagery and associated wordplay - “build a bridge and get over it” Begley chorused. Instrumental solos came from Chung on tenor and Kitchman on a guitar on a piece that its composer described as being “Jobim meets Radiohead”.

Begley added a second vocal on the song “Ember”, combining effectively with Kitchman’s guitar and Dick’s drum groove as Chung took the instrumental honours with a tenor sax solo.

Trumpeter, sound artist, recording engineer and producer Alex Bonney is one of the unsung heroes of British jazz. Chung now called him to the stage to add his electronic wizardry to “Bird Wing” which also featured Begley playing the Pizza’s grand piano. This powerful item featured Chung’s Acoustic Ladyland style sax riffing and the whistle of Bonney’s Hawkwind like electronics over an intense groove powered by Dick’s dynamic drumming.

By way of contrast “The Clydesdale”, a tune from the group’s EP was suitably lyrical and pastoral with versatile Dick now cast in the role of sensitive colourist.

The performance closed with the group’s signature tune “Glasshopper”, which saw them upping the wattage once more for a parting blast featuring Chung’s sax barrage allied to the whoosh of electronics and Dick’s kinetic drumming.

Coming on as comparatively late subs Glasshopper gave a triumphant performance and were well supported by another large crowd at the Pizza, who I suspect were mainly there to see them. I didn’t hear anybody expressing disappointment about the non-appearance of the Picard trio, which, to be fair, had been properly publicised by the venue.

My thanks to Jonathan Chung for speaking with me afterwards. Let’s hope that the reputation of this impressive young trio continues to grow and that they will be able to record a full length album at some point in the future.

HUW BENNETT SEXTET, RAY’S JAZZ AT FOYLE’S

The early evening show at Foyle’s featured a sextet led by bassist, composer and producer Huw Bennett. Bassist and producer of the popular West African ensemble Susso and a member of the electro-jazz outfit Saltwater Samurai tonight’s show saw Bennett introducing a new sextet featuring himself on electric bass alongside tenor saxophonist Chelsea Carmichael, trombonist Rosie Turton, guitarist Shirley Tetteh and the twin sticks attack of drummer Jake Long and percussionist Tim Doyle.

As the line up suggests this was a highly rhythmic unit that drew on African and Latin sounds laced with healthy doses of jazz and funk. No tune titles were announced but I was more than happy to immerse myself in the infectious rhythms and strong solos as the ensemble delivered an energetic set featuring six pieces over the course of about an hour.

Playing ‘in the round’, the format favoured at Foyle’s, the sextet hit the ground running with the rich blend of Carmichael’s tenor and Turton’s trombone propelled by the Afro-beat rhythms of their colleagues.

Tetteh’s guitar brought a genuine West African feel to the next piece which included a fruity trombone solo from Turton and a full blooded excursion on tenor from Carmichael.

Bennett’s bass motifs were frequently picked up by the horns with Turton and Carmichael making a great team. These two were also happy to adopt a more supportive role during solos from the inventive Tetteh, whose guitar playing was at the very heart of the ensemble. With Tetteh and Turton in the band’s ranks there were strong links to the all female band Nerija who performed so memorably at Foyle’s in 2016.

Although this was largely a high energy performance there were also more impressionistic moments such as the electric bass / guitar duet that opened the fourth piece, plus Bennett’s subsequent electric bass feature. But in the main it was the impressive and powerful horns of Carmichael and Turton that made the biggest impression as solo instruments.

Long introduced the fifth piece from the drum kit with a well constructed solo that led the music into more obviously Caribbean territory with further solos coming from Tetteh and Carmichael.

The final piece combined rousing horn charts with an absorbing guitar and percussion dialogue as Doyle finally got his chance to shine on a set up including three conga drums plus all manner of shakers and items of small percussion. Further solos came from Tetteh on guitar and Carmichael on tenor as a vibrant, energetic and hugely enjoyable set drew to a close.

Bennett said little, other than introducing the band, but he did provide the key information that the group currently have an album recording in progress which should see the light of day in 2018. On this evidence it will be a release that will be worth hearing.

Drummer Long’s own band, Maisha, also featuring Doyle were due to support American trumpeter Christian Scott the following evening at the Electric Ballroom, Camden. More on that in that day’s feature.

RONNIE SCOTT’S ALL STARS / MARK GUILIANA JAZZ QUARTET, RONNIE SCOTT’S JAZZ CLUB, SOHO

Immediately after the Huw Bennett performance I headed straight to nearby Frith Street where American drum hero Mark Guiliana was playing his second sold out night at Ronnie Scott’s. Already a legend among fellow drummers Guiliana came to the attention of a whole new audience when he played on David Bowie’s final album, the excellent “Blackstar”.

As well as leading his own bands Guiliana has also collaborated with saxophonist Donny McCaslin, bassist Avishai Cohen and pianist Brad Mehldau with British audiences also recalling his short guest stint as a member of Phronesis, as documented on that group’s breakthrough album “Alive”.

RONNIE SCOTT’S ALL STARS

Before the main event the audience at Ronnie’s enjoyed a performance by the resident house group featuring pianist James Pearson, bassist Sam Burgess and drummer Chris Higginbottom together with vocalist Natalie Williams.

I arrived part way through a performance comprised of mainly standards fare including “Blue Skies” and “ They Can’t Take That Away From Me”. Williams was suffering with a cold and wasn’t at her best but I enjoyed the instrumental solos from Pearson and Burgess.

“Dat Dere” by Bobby Timmons and “James” by Pat Metheny represented more adventurous fare and I found myself warming to Williams on these two incentive ‘vocalese’ numbers. The Timmons piece featured a playful lyric written from the point of view of a five year old which gave Williams the opportunity to interact with the audience. The Metheny tune, with a lyric by Sue Shattock is just a gloriously melodic piece of music that has become something of a modern standard. Here it incorporated a scat vocal episode from Williams and a piano solo from Pearson.

“Stolen Moments”, written by Oliver Nelson and with a lyric written by singer Mark Murphy was another winning example of ‘vocalese’ which Williams dedicated to the memory of Murphy (1932 -2015). Tonight’s version also included features for Pearson at the piano and Higginbottom at the drums.

A lively “Bye Bye Blackbird” rounded off this short support set building from a voice and piano duo introduction to embrace solos from Pearson and Burgess plus a further outbreak of scatting from Williams.

This was all pleasant enough fare but it rather paled into insignificance in the light of what was to follow.

MARK GUILIANA JAZZ QUARTET

Guiliana is perhaps best known for working in an electro-jazz environment but his latest project has seen him returning to his acoustic jazz roots. In 2015 his Jazz Quartet recorded the album “Family First” for the Motema imprint and he has recently followed this with “Jersey”, released on the same label, an album named for his home state of New Jersey.

Tonight’s performance, spread over two sets, was mainly sourced from the new record and featured album personnel Jason Rigby (tenor sax), Chris Morrissey (double bass) and the young Cuban born pianist Fabian Almazan.

For those of us who witnessed Guiliana’s hyperactive performance with McCaslin’s band at Rich Mix during the 2016 EFG LJF this essentially acoustic performance took a little getting used to. It all seemed a little low key at first but as one gradually immersed oneself in the music one found it taking on hidden depths.

Guiliana’s technique is unquestionable but this emphatically wasn’t a ‘drummer’s gig’ with the leader seeking to show off his considerable percussive chops. This was a performance with the focus on the writing and on the overall ensemble. This was nothing like the supercharged McCaslin band and Rigby turned out to be a totally different kind of saxophonist, his undemonstrative playing and lightness of tone sometimes reminding me of Hank Mobley, a compliment indeed.

Guiliana’s tunes often deploy song-like structures derived from rock music rather than jazz, giving his pieces a certain distinctiveness in this acoustic context. The first piece began with a tenor sax fanfare and included solos from Rigby and Almazan as Guiliana maintained a relatively low profile. Nevertheless his subtle polyrhythmic flow remained at the heart of the music.

The next item saw Guiliana cast in the role of sensitive colourist as he accompanied the excellent Almazan, but as the pianist become more expansive the trio of Almazan, Guiliana and Morrisey become engaged in the kind of fierce interaction that recalled the drummer’s days with Phronesis.

Guiliana actually left his kit at the start of the third piece, sitting quietly at the back of the stage in quiet contemplation as Rigby blew a delicate tenor sax melody above the drone of Morrissey’s bowed bass and the low end piano rumblings of Amazan. The remaining trio delivered a beautiful meditation that to these ears sounds European rather than American.

The leader was back behind the kit for a piece with a ¾ drum and bass groove that facilitated a fluent subtly probing solo from Rigby on a tune with plenty of dynamic variation that also included a pizzicato bass solo from Morrissey and a passage of unaccompanied piano from the hugely impressive Almazan that drew on the influences of both Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor.

The title track of the “Jersey” album closed an excellent first set, ushered in by Morrissey’s unaccompanied bass before Rigby’s warm statement of the nostalgic sounding melodic theme.
Morrissey’s melodic bass solo was accompanied by the patter of Guiliana’s bare hands on skins before Rigby opened out with a gently exploratory tenor solo. In some ways this was a low key way to end the first set yet it was totally in keeping with the aesthetic of this superbly balanced quartet.

Set two began with a passage of unaccompanied piano from Almazan before Rigby picked out the theme. The saxophonist’s subsequent solo was more forceful and aggressive than his playing in the first set with further solos coming from Morrissey and Alamazan. Guiliana explained that this was a new tune, as yet unrecorded, and that this was only the second time the quartet had played it live (the first being the previous night, one presumes).

Next up was Morrissey’s composition “The Mayor Of Rotterdam”, a tune from the “Jersey” album. Introduced by a passage of unaccompanied piano the piece that briefly featured the composer’s bowed bass as he accompanied Rigby’s opening melodic statement.  Arpeggiated piano and a hip hop style groove from the leader inspired inventive solos from Rigby and Almazan, the latter again impressing with his outpouring of ideas.

Guiliana’s drums introduced his own composition “Long Branch”, named after a New Jersey town, which evolved into another passage of stunning piano trio interplay with Almazan swarming all over the keyboard. Finally Guiliana unleashed the kind of fireworks everybody had been waiting for with an explosive drum feature underscored by a rolling piano vamp and a needling tenor sax motif. In this case it proves to be “the storm before the calm” as the piece resolved itself with a passage featuring a gentle tenor sax melody.

Finally we heard a version of David Bowie’s “Where Are We Now”, the tune that closes the “Jersey” album. Arranged as a jazz ballad the piece featured Rigby’s tender, warm toned tenor sax and Guiliana’s wonderfully subtle drum colourations. This was a fitting and heart warming tribute to Guiliana’s former colleague and ended the evening on an elegaic and ultimately uplifting note. 

Although I was already familiar with some aspects of Guiliana’s work his three colleagues were previously unknown to me. All are bandleaders in their own right as well as being prolific sidemen and I was impressed with all of them and particularly Alzaman who represented a particularly exciting new discovery. However I’d be interested in hearing the solo recordings of all three of them. In the meantime the album “Jersey” is highly recommended.

My thanks to my fellow writers in “scribbler’s corner”,  Eddie Myer of the Jazz Views website and Francis Graham-Dixon of Jazz Journal who both reviewed the performance with far more technical insight than I can provide. Thank you for your company gentlemen, and it says much for the quality of the performance that after the show all three of us were anxious to get our hands on a copy of the excellent “Jersey” CD. By common consensus these shows by Mark Guiliana and his Jazz Quartet represented a real Festival highlight. 

 

 

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