5th ANNUAL BATH JAZZ WEEKEND, WIDCOMBE SOCIAL CLUB, BATH

FRIDAY 3rd JANUARY 2025

PROLOGUE

The Bath Jazz Weekend, now in its fifth edition, is becoming an increasingly popular event on the UK jazz calendar and this year’s ten gig (plus one film) extravaganza saw near capacity audiences at every performance / screening, with most of Saturday’s programme officially sold out.

The Bath Jazz Weekend runs across three days and is co-ordinated by Nod Knowles, a Bath resident with a distinguished career in music promotion and arts administration behind him. He has served as  Head of Music at the Scottish Arts Council and as Chief Executive of Bath Festivals and was the Jazz Programme Director for Bath International Music Festival. It was Knowles who famously brought Loose Tubes to the 1987 BIMF for a much celebrated performance that was subsequently screened on BBC 2 and which remains available on YouTube to this day.

After some years away from the music business Knowles returned to the fray by promoting a series of jazz and folk events at the Widcombe Social Club on the south eastern outskirts of Bath under the ‘All Of The Above’  (AOTA) banner.

He founded the Bath Jazz Weekend in 2020, the inaugural event taking place in the January of that year, before the Covid lockdowns commenced. 2021 didn’t happen, for obvious reasons, but the next three BJWs in ‘22, ‘23 and’ 24 saw its popularity continuing to grow. It’s great way to kick off the New Year for audiences and musicians alike, a return to normal life after the excesses and nonsenses of Christmas and for most of the musicians featured on the 2025 programme it represented their first gig of the year, - and one in front of a large, supportive and knowledgeable audience at that.

Of course the weather can be a factor, but as long as you can get there and back safely BJW is a terrific event that offers a wide ranging programme embracing several different jazz genres and at just £89.00 for a full weekend pass it also represents tremendous value for money.

I’d heard great things about BJW and decided to give it a go this year. I’m grateful to Nod for providing my wife and I with weekend guest passes and we stayed for two nights at the nearby Bath Waterside Travelodge, just a couple of minutes walk from the venue and only five to ten minutes from the city centre.

There was plenty of ‘downtime’ each morning to explore the tourist attractions, the Abbey, Pump Rooms, Roman Baths, Royal Crescent – and even Bath RFC. There was even time to visit a few of Bath’s historic pubs, The Raven, the Coeur de Lion and The Green Tree. Those of you that know me will realise how much I like my real ale and the fact that the Widcombe Social Club (hereafter WSC) also served a pretty decent pint of St. Austell Tribute came as a very welcome bonus.

Indeed the WSC proved to be a well appointed venue well suited to the staging jazz events and the musicians were well served by sound engineer Mark Burton and his team. On the whole the sound quality was excellent throughout. The presence of a ‘proper’ acoustic grand piano was also a huge plus and the instrument was put to good use by a host of fine pianists over the course of the Weekend.

Knowles was keen to point out that WSC was a community focussed organisation that operates on a co-operative basis, as does BJW itself. This ethos all made for a very happy and friendly atmosphere and there was a real sense of ‘oneness’  and togetherness between the musicians and their highly appreciative audiences.

The programme featured many musicians from the South West jazz hotbeds of Bristol and Frome, all of them players with national reputations, plus others from further afield with London, Scotland, Wales and Israel (the latter via The Netherlands) all represented over the course of the Weekend.

Several of the acts merged jazz with traditional folk music forms, this being an important strand running throughout the programming of the Weekend.

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (FILM)

However the music’s American roots were not totally forgotten and the Weekend commenced with a screening of the 1959 US film “Odds Against Tomorrow”, presented by BJW in conjunction with the Off The Wall cinema series, that also takes place at Widcombe Social Club. This joint promotion very much epitomised the collaborative spirit that informs both BJW and WSC.

“Odds Against Tomorrow” is a noirish thriller that tells the story of a failed bank heist but its USP for jazz lovers is a music score written by John Lewis, pianist and principal composer of the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ). The soundtrack is performed by the members of the MJQ (Lewis – conductor, Milt Jackson – vibraphone, Percy Heath – bass, Connie Kay – drums) plus two true jazz legends Bill Evans (piano) and Jim Hall (guitar). 

These illustrious jazz musicians were part of a twenty two piece ensemble that Wikipedia lists as follows;

John Lewis – arranger, conductor
    Bernie Glow, Joe Wilder, John Ware, Melvyn Broiles – trumpet
    John Clark, Tom McIntosh – trombone
    Al Richman, Gunther Schuller, Paul Ingram, Ray Alonge – French horn
    Harvey Phillips – tuba
    Robert DiDomenica – flute
    Harvey Shapiro, Joseph Tekula – cello
    Ruth Berman – harp
    Milt Jackson – vibraphone
    Bill Evans – piano
    Jim Hall – guitar
    Percy Heath – bass
    Connie Kay – drums
    Richard Horowitz – timpani
    Walter Rosenberger – percussion

Jazz aficionados will also note the film’s year of release, 1959, as also being when such celebrated jazz albums as Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue”, Charles Mingus’ “Ah Um”, Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out” and Ornette Coleman’s “The Shape Of Things To Come” were first released.

The film itself is directed by Robert Wise and features a screenplay by Abraham Polonsky and Nelson Gidding, this based on the 1957 novel of the same name by William P. McGivern. It stars Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Ed Begley and Shelley Winters.

The introductory music features the sounds of the MJQ, plus Evans, Hall and the additional horns and strings. The music forms an atmospheric backdrop to the black and white footage of 1950s New York in winter, with tail finned, gas guzzling automobiles cruising the streets. The sounds of Jackson’s vibes and Evans’ piano are particularly prominent in the musical arrangements.

Bitter ex cop David Burke (Ed Begley) is holed up in the Juno Hotel and has an appointment with hard boiled military vet, former convict and inveterate racist Earl Slater (Robert Ryan). Burke invites Slater to become involved in a 50k bank heist, but Slater is initially reluctant and declines the offer.

Subsequently Burke is visited by Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte), a night club performer who is deeply in debt due to his penchant for the horses. He is being pursued for payment by the vicious loan shark Bacco (Will Kuluva). Ingram is offered the same deal as Slater but also declines.

As these meetings take place Lewis’ soundtrack, which sometimes incorporates grandiose orchestration,  skilfully builds and releases the tension.

The film then follows the stories of Ingram and Slater as we learn why they both eventually assent to going along with Burke’s plans.

Ingram is assaulted by Bacco and his henchmen prior to a nightclub engagement. He is presented in the film as a jazz vocalist and vibes player, the voice presumably Belafonte’s own and the vibes Jackson’s. Following his roughing up by Bacco and his entourage Ingram gets drunk on the bandstand and gets involved in a musical stand off with jazz singer Annie, played by real life jazz vocalist and entertainer Mae Barnes. Estranged from his wife and young daughter and with no hope of repaying Bacco he eventually agrees to go in with Burke.

Meanwhile Slater is partnered in numerous scenes by his love interest Lorry (Shelley Winters), whose work helps to financially support unemployed ex convict Slater. The latter’s prospects of finding gainful employment are further undermined by his getting involved in a fight with a soldier in a bar and he is also involved in an ill advised liaison with flirtatious neighbour Helen (Gloria Grahame). Shamed and desperate he too takes up Burke’s offer.

Burke’s plan is to rob a bank in Melton, a town on the Hudson River in up-state New York. Until both men agree to work with Burke they have never met each other. Slater is outraged that Ingram is black and Burke has to be at his most persuasive to get them to work together.

The three men make their way up to Melton separately, with Lewis’ score sound-tracking their individual journeys. There are some particularly atmospheric passages featuring the sounds of Hall’s guitar,  Kay’s unaccompanied drums and Rosenberger’s percussion.

The tension between Slater and Ingram continues to simmer and the dialogue includes examples of racist language that would be unacceptable today. Nevertheless this serves to emphasise the film’s anti-racism message, for if it were not for the mistrust shown by Slater towards Ingram then Burke’s plan may have been successful. To appease Slater Burke agrees to keep hold of the keys to the get away car rather than giving them to Ingram, who is scheduled to get to the vehicle first.

I don’t intend to describe Burke’s plan in too much detail here, but after the trio successfully gain entry to the bank and steal the money their getaway attempt is thwarted by both tiny everyday circumstances that Burke had failed to factor in – and by the ongoing mistrust between Slater and Ingram.

They are spotted by the cops and Burke is gunned down by the police, still with the keys to the get away car, that should have been entrusted to Ingram. Burke shoots himself with his own weapon to avoid capture.

Slater and Ingram fight before escaping on foot, pursued by the police. They find themselves in a fuel storage depot, using ladders to scale the tanks as they continue to evade the cops. Still furious with each other they exchange gun fire, triggering an enormous explosion as the vast vats of fuel ignite.

The closing scene features two members of the police standing over two body bags. “Which one is which?” one cop asks the other. “I don’t know, take your pick”, his colleague replies.

Besides the obvious “crime doesn’t pay” message there is also a profound anti-racism sentiment. Slater and Ingram are equal in death, their bodies so badly burned as to be unrecognisable and indistinguishable. The final shot is of a sign at the entrance to the fuel depot – “STOP -DEAD END”.

As a crime melodrama the film still has a certain period charm, but it has to be said that Lewis’ score still sounds remarkably contemporary. The MJQ released an album featuring some of the themes from Lewis’ score and Evans and Hall also recorded the piece “Skating in Central Park” for their 1962 duo album “Undercurrent”.

The Bath audience appeared to enjoy the film, which was well attended and which proved to be a good curtain raiser for the two live performances that were to follow.

KY OSBORNE’S K.O. QUARTET

Ky Osborne – piano, Ollie Young – guitar, Freddie Canton – double bass, Joe Steyn – drums

Ky Osborn is a young pianist and composer who has emerged from the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme and who is beginning to make a name for himself on the London jazz scene.

He had been scheduled to appear with alto saxophonist Mali Sheard at the 2024 BJW but had been unable to do so due to logistical difficulties. He was was therefore overjoyed at being given the opportunity to lead his own group here in 2025.

Osborne’s K.O. Quartet features three more highly talented young musicians, guitarist Ollie Young, bassist Freddie Canton and drummer Joe Steyn and this same line up performed at the Karamel venue in Wood Green as part of the 2024 EFG London Jazz Festival.

Tonight’s well attended show saw Osborne and the quartet tackling a range of familiar jazz standards but approaching them in new and interesting ways via set of innovative and consistently interesting new arrangements. There was just one original tune, but this was the one that probably got the biggest reception of the evening!

An atmospheric unaccompanied drum introduction featuring Steyn playing the kit with his bare hands ushered in the Latin jazz standard “Poinciana”, with piano, guitar and double bass added as Steyn eventually picked up his brushes. Osborne’s percussive piano represented an effective contrast to Young’s warm, syrupy guitar sound, but it was the impressive young bassist Canton who was first to emerge as a soloist. The leader’s more expansive piano solo saw the music gathering momentum as Steyn switched to sticks.

“Softly As In A Morning Sunrise” saw Osborne’s piano dancing lightly above the sounds of Steyn’s brushes and Canton’s bass undertow. Young subsequently took over the melody and delivered the first solo, spiralling inventively as the music again gathered momentum, with Steyn again picking up the sticks. Osborne followed at the piano with another fluent offering, and in this most democratic of quartets Canton enjoyed a second bass feature.

Canton’s bass also introduced a strikingly imaginative, slowed down arrangement of Cole Porter’s “Love For Sale” that proved to be an excellent example of the quartet’s youthful vitality and their refreshingly contemporary approach to well established material. Young’s guitar solo saw him combining finger picking and plectrum techniques. Meanwhile the leader’s piano solo, more reflective at first, later embraced keyboard sweeps and the dampening of strings as the music became more loosely structured, leading into a series of piano and double bass exchanges punctuated by pointillist guitar and brushed drums. Canton then established a bass groove that provided the fulcrum for Young’s reprise of the melody. Speaking as the performance finished Osborne explained that his arrangement has been inspired by Porter’s lyrics and sought to express “the brightness of love and its eventual decay”, as represented by the loosely structured episode in the middle.

The choice of Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm-a-Ning” represented a good summation of the quartet’s own adventurous and mischievous approach to music making and included engaging solos from Osborne and Young. The Tomorrow’s Warriors teaching methods are based around the playing of jazz standards, but with the young musicians then being encouraged to go out and put their own mark on them, a concept that this exciting young group have very much taken to heart.

However there was still room for the Osborne original composition “Hootenanny”, a suitably joyous piece rooted very much in the jazz tradition with its slippery bebop inspired melody lines and lively guitar and piano solos and instrumental exchanges. Steyn again graduated from brushes to sticks, rounding the performance off with a rousing drum feature. As mentioned previously this item was particularly well received and the quartet’s final item was effectively an encore.

Once the personable Osborne had thanked Knowles and the BJW team he announced that this last tune would be “comforting”. This was a stunningly imaginative slowed down version of the often jaunty “Bye Bye Blackbird”. An unaccompanied piano intro was followed by the sounds of double bass, brushed drums and softly keening guitar in a delicate arrangement that treated the song as a ballad, or even a lullaby. This was a stunningly beautiful performance that exhibited an emotional maturity beyond the band members’ tender years.

Jazz festivals always throw up exciting new discoveries. I was familiar with the work of several of the other artists on this year’s bill so for me the ‘find of the festival’ award definitely went to Ky Osborne and the K.O. Quartet. Very well done guys. I shall look forward to hearing your debut album.

LAURA JURD QUARTET

Laura Jurd – trumpet, Cori Smith – viola, Tara Cunningham, Corrie Dick – drums, percussion

Friday’s headline set featured a performance from this new quartet led by the award winning trumpeter and composer Laura Jurd (pictured).

Jurd’s latest project is a collaboration with the contemporary folk musician Cori Smith, with tonight’s quartet completed by guitarist Tara Cunningham and Jurd’s regular drummer of choice, Corrie Dick. A previous incarnation of the quartet has featured guitarist James Kitchman and drummer Dave Smith.

This was the first event in BJW’s jazz / folk strand and the set included a series of new folk infused compositions from Jurd, plus a remarkable interpretation of the classic New Orleans blues song “St. James Infirmary” blues.

The quartet began with “Offering”, ushered in by a loosely structured intro featuring the sounds of drums, viola and Cunningham’s guitar, which often fulfilled the bass function in this instrumental format. Gradually a folk like melody emerged, stated by Smith on viola, with Jurd subsequently taking over as the music became more riff based, delivering a fluent but powerful trumpet solo fuelled by Smith’s increasingly dynamic drumming.

The lengthy opening sequence was in fact a segue of three separate tunes and I suspect that the quieter passage that followed, a gentle dialogue between trumpet and viola punctuated by the rustle of small percussion, may have represented the transition into “Step Up To The Altar”. This was also distinguished by a jaunty folk melody that provided the inspiration for solos from both Smith and Jurd, with Cunningham’s guitar representing a significant rhythmic force alongside Dick’s drums. Jurd dug deep to produce another compelling trumpet solo, her mesmeric playing possessed of a palpable mantra like quality.

A further viola / trumpet / drum episode appeared to represent the link into the concluding “Praying Mantis”, with Cunningham eventually coming to the fore to solo for the first time, accompanied by the clatter of drum sticks on rims and the shimmer of foot operated percussion. The solos of Cunningham and Jurd were punctuated by full on bursts of collective sound as this impressive opening segue built to a climax.

When introducing her fellow band members to the audience Jurd explained that the group were in the course of recording an album which will be due for release in the Autumn 2025. On the evidence of tonight’s performance this is a release that will be very keenly anticipated.

A viola and guitar duet introduced “Lighter and Brighter”, with Smith subsequently sketching a folk like melody on viola as Dick’s drums and Jurd’s trumpet were added to the equation. Jurd’s playing of folk like themes on the trumpet sometimes reminded me of the music of the Scottish trumpeter and composer Colin Steele, a musician who has consistently created his own distinctive blend of jazz and traditional music. It should also be remembered that Steele’s compatriot, Corrie Dick, is also no stranger to jazz / folk hybrids, both as the leader of his own groups and in his duo with Shetland born saxophonist Norman Willmore. But Steele has never punctuated his melodic folk / jazz compositions with blistering squalls of free jazz as the Jurd Quartet did here, with the whinnying of Jurd’s trumpet augmented by the sounds of pizzicato viola. Eventually calm was restored with a reprise of the earlier folk inspired melody.

Jurd described her composition “You Again” as being about “welcoming the doomier, gloomier part o yourself with open arms”. Introduced by the now familiar combination of viola, drums and guitar this piece featured another folk inspired theme and incorporated concise individual features for Smith on viola and Dick at the drum kit.

Jurd’s arrangement of “St. James Infirmary Blues” was inspired by Louis Armstrong’s recording of a song that Jurd described as having “a simple yet iconic melody that has stood the test of time”.  An intentionally tentative unaccompanied trumpet intro was followed by the introduction of viola, guitar and brushed drums, with the quartet’s sensitive approach to the tune similar in spirit to the K.O. Quartet’s interpretation of “Bye Bye Blackbird”. However the mood was not to last, with Jurd eventually stepping forward to deliver a powerful trumpet solo fuelled by Cunningham’s increasingly clangorous guitar and Dick’s dynamic drumming, culminating in the sticksman’s own solo.

The quartet concluded in almost courtly, early music fashion with the folk inspired melodies of “Bide Your Time”, the music gradually gathering momentum during the course of Jurd’s trumpet solo.

There was a surreal moment as Knowles conducted the raffle, with the members of the quartet providing musical accompaniment. The musicians then played a deserved encore with the Middle Eastern inspired “Biding Your Time”, with Jurd the featured soloist.

This was a highly enjoyable performance from a distinctively configured quartet and the forthcoming album release will be eagerly awaited by many. The quartet’s blending of folk melody with full blooded jazz improvisation was both impressive and innovative and the standard of the playing was excellent throughout, not least from Jurd herself.

If there was a criticism it was that the leader was overly dominant and took the majority of the solos, while the viola was buried a little too deep in the sound mix. However these are minor quibbles in the context of an excellent all round group performance, a home town gig for Bath born, London based Cunningham.

My thanks to Corrie Dick for speaking with me after the show and for providing full details of the set list, vital information that has helped enormously in the writing of this review.

What a great start to BJW 2025, with even more to look forward to tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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