Dom Pipkin Trio, “New Orleans Comes to Wall2Wall”, Livestream for Wall2Wall Virtual Jazz Festival, Abergavenny.

First streamed 30/11/2021

Dom Pipkin – piano, vocals, Nick Kacal – double bass, Jimmy Norden – drums

PROLOGUE;

Since 2006 Black Mountain Jazz, headed by Mike Skilton, has been presenting regular jazz events in Abergavenny, utilising a variety of different venues over the years.

In 2013 the monthly club programme was supplemented for the first time by the weekend long Wall2Wall Jazz Festival. Usually taking place in early September Wall2Wall has since become an established annual event with a growing national reputation.

Needless to say 2020 was, of course, very different.  During the early stages of the pandemic it quickly became obvious that Wall2Wall in its traditional format was never going to be a viable option for 2020. Instead Mike and his fellow BMJ organisers opted for a ‘Virtual’ Festival, establishing a partnership with Mark Viveash of the locally based 47 Studios and Productions. 

Artists who had been scheduled to appear at the 2020 Festival, or who had had club engagements cancelled, were filmed to the highest audio and visual standards in Covid safe conditions during the summer of 2020 by Viveash and his crew and the performances were subsequently transmitted during the autumn to a global, ticketed audience. The artists were paid the same fee as for a live gig and the performances were augmented by informative interview footage. 

It all made for an excellent package, one that was enthusiastically received by jazz lovers far and wide and overall the 2020 Wall2Wall Virtual Jazz Festival could be considered an outstanding success. All of the 2020 performances have been comprehensively reviewed elsewhere on the Jazzmann.

They are also still available to view via the Black Mountain Jazz website.  Some of the music was also immortalised on the limited edition CD “Covid Jazz 2020”, which features a track from all of the artists that took part and which can be purchased via the BMJ website.
http://www.blackmountainjazz.co.uk

With Covid uncertainty still raging during the early months of 2021 it was decided that Wall2Wall would be a Virtual event for the second year running. However the gradual easing of restrictions during the summer ensured that it could eventually become a ‘Hybrid’ event, part live and part on line.

Five very different acts were booked, all travelling to Abergavenny during August to be filmed in performance during the day at BMJ’s regular HQ, the Melville Centre, by Mark Viveash and the 47 Studios team.

In the evening the artists then performed in front of a live, paying audience in the Barn at White House Farm in the nearby village of Llanvetherine. For many of the musicians involved this was their first performance in front of a live audience for over a year and they relished the opportunity to play to a real live crowd, especially in such a delightful, and highly scenic, rural location.

The Barn performances were scheduled on consecutive nights and I was unable to attend all of them. I reviewed the show by the duo of vocalist Ella Hohnen-Ford and pianist Joe Webb and also “The Journey of Trad”, presented by The BMJ Collective, a band led by the Cardiff based drummer and educator Alex Goodyear.

I’m grateful to guest contributor Nigel Jarrett for covering the performances by New Orleans inspired pianist Dom Pipkin and by pianist / vocalist Wendy Kirkland with her “Celebrating the Divas” show.

One live event was actually held at the Melville. Electric bass specialist Shez Raja’s “Tales from The Punjab” project was more reliant on musical technology and wasn’t really suitable to the Barn. After a day’s filming he then played two storming sets to live audiences, the ‘two shows’ format designed to allow for a degree of ‘social distancing’. I covered the second of these, for me the highlight of the Festival’s live programme.

It was originally intended that the ‘Virtual’ element of the 2021 Wall2Wall would be streamed in October but the decision to transmit during November and December, with the footage remaining available until the end of February 2022, makes sense, the long winter nights allowing greater opportunities for viewing.

DOM PIPKIN TRIO

As Nigel Jarrett covered the live show by the Pipkin trio at the Barn on 4th August 2021 I came to this streamed performance with fresh eyes and ears and very much enjoyed what I saw and heard.

Nigel clearly relished the live event and his review of the show can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/dom-pipkin-trio-new-orleans-comes-to-wall2wall-the-barn-white-house-farm-llanvetherine-abergavenny-04-08-2021

London based Pipkin has immersed has immersed himself in the culture of New Orleans and has visited the city on many occasions, appearing at the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival alongside some of his musical heroes.

His prime musical influences include the ‘Nawlins’ musicians Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Dr. John and The Meters, these distilled into a virtuosic, all action piano style topped with powerful and commendably soulful vocals.  Pipkin and his regular working band Dom And The Ikos are a popular attraction on the London live music circuit and have performed regularly at Ronnie Scott’s.

In addition to his New Orleans inspired projects Pipkin is a member of the trip hop band Morcheeba and has also acted as a musical director for Paloma Faith. As a session musician he has worked with Paul Weller, Ray Davies, Laura Mvula, John Newman, the late Pee Wee Ellis and others. 

Pipkin is also an accomplished songwriter and much of the trio’s material consisted of original songs written in a recognisable New Orleans style. He was well supported by bassist Nick Kacal, once London based but now re-located to the South Wales Valleys, and drummer Jimmy Norden, once of the horn and percussion ensemble The Big Shake Up (formerly known as Bad Ass Brass).

There was evidently a degree of overlap regarding the material played at the filmed performance and the live show with several of the numbers that Nigel enjoyed at the Barn also appearing here.

The stream commences with the “Filmed in Abergavenny, Streamed to the World” sequence featuring photographs of local landmarks, this time with a musical backdrop featuring the sounds of the Pipkin trio.

Footage of the trio actually begins at the Barn where audience members can be seen up on their feet and dancing as Pipkin, Kacal and Norden barrel through their final number, a rollicking rendition of the familiar “Bill Bailey”.

The caption “Several Hours Earlier” then appears and we are transported back to the Melville Theatre with Pipkin playing the venue’s upright acoustic piano, an instrument particularly suited to his New Orleans inspired piano stylings.

As a recording artist Pipkin has a number of albums to his credit, including the recent “C’Mon Sunshine”, from which the opening “Heading South” was taken, a song actually inspired by Brixton rather than the ‘Crescent City’. Pipkin’s website describes his sound as “Piano from London, Soul from New Orleans’ and his performance here had an authentic New Orleans feel with bluesy piano augmented by soulful vocals. But it’s during his piano solos that one really gets to appreciate the enormity of Pipkin’s talent and his command of New Orleans idioms.

From the same album came “I Love You”, a simple but charming dedication to his wife, the artist Hannah Luxton, delivered in a New Orleans style and with a lyric referencing her painting “The Return Of The Blue Mountain”.

The first cover of the set was a dazzling rendition of “Jakimo-Fi-Na-Hey”, written by alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, a native of New Orleans and once a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. The title of the tune comes from a chant of defiance sung by the Mardi Gras Indians of the city, black revellers who dress up at carnival time and of whom Harrison is a chief. This was introduced by Norden on drums and percussion, his roiling polyrhythms making particularly effective use of tambourine as they underpinned Pipkin’s vocal chants. The leader’s barnstorming piano solo incorporated quotes from other tunes, among them “Down by the Riverside”, and this hugely exciting and energetic trio performance was crowned by a stunning drum feature from the consistently impressive Norden.

Pipkin’s own “Take the Whole” was a hymn to “accepting the good and bad things around us and within us” it’s positive message representing “a prayer and an affirmation”, with a passage of French lyrics included to “spice things up”. The piece was also notable for the first bass solo of the evening from the highly dexterous Nick Kacal, a musician who has become a great friend to Black Mountain Jazz following his move to Wales.

Kacal was then featured again on the syncopated “I Don’t Want To Go To New Orleans”, surely written by Pipkin with his tongue very much in his cheek.

A more accurate representation of his feelings about the city came with “Love Affair With New Orleans”, a Gershwin inspired ballad that revealed a gentler, more lyrical side of the trio, with Norden deploying brushes throughout.

The pensive mood continued with the personal song “Just Like Me” before Pipkin raised the energy levels again with “Smile and Get On Down”, a rollicking tune with an irresistible message of positivity. Inspired by Professor Longhair the tune first appeared on Pipkin’s 2007 album “Fallen Heroes”, the album title also becoming a band name at that time.

“We love The Meters”, declared Pipkin as he introduced a rousing rendition of that band’s “Hey Pocky A-Way”, maintaining the momentum and representing a final chance for Pipkin to demonstrate his prodigious piano technique on the upright.

We then cut back to the Barn, where Pipkin was playing an electric keyboard as the dancers continued to move to the strains of “Bill Bailey”  (did I see photographer Kasia Ociepa among them?).  The ecstatic audience reception at the end was a reminder of why we missed real live music so much during lockdown.

That said this streamed performance was also highly enjoyable and Mark Viveash and his team are again to be congratulated for the excellent audio and visual quality.

Pipkin benefited from being able to play a ‘real’ piano and responded with a virtuoso performance. I was also impressed by his assured vocalising and relaxed presenting style. Kacal and Norden offered excellent support and made the most of their solo opportunities. Overall the playing and singing was exceptional all round.

Details of the full line up for the 2021 Wall2Wall Virtual Jazz Festival appear below;

The wall2wall Jazz videos will stream at staggered dates between 27th November and 9th December. All videos will remain accessible until 28th February 2022. Full Festival line up attached.

From;
http://blackmountainjazz.co.uk/wall2wall-virtual-jazz-festival-2021/
 
Welcome to our 2021 Festival
Filmed in Abergavenny
Streamed to the World
 
Ella Hohnen-Ford & Joe Webb
A Tribute to the Great American Songbook
Streaming from Saturday 27th November 2021
 
The Dom Pipkin Trio
New Orleans Comes to wall2wall
Streaming from Tuesday 30th November 2021
 
The Wendy Kirkland Trio
With special Guest Annette Gregory
Celebrating the Divas
Streaming from Friday 3rd December 2021
 
The BMJ Collective
The Journey of Trad
Streaming from Monday 6th December 2021
 
The Shez Raja Sextet
With special guest Tony Kofi
Tales From the Punjab
Streaming from Thursday 9th December 2021
 
Each individual video is £8 and there is a Super ticket that gives access to all five for £30.

Tickets are classified ‘Single, Family & Friends’, which encourages watching with others and re-watching.  However, we do ask ticket purchasers that passwords are not shared.

Tickets plus full biographies of all performers at http://blackmountainjazz.co.uk/wall2wall-virtual-jazz-festival-2021/

You will see when you visit our website that we have included a Catch Up ticket for access to last year’s festival videos.

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