Jas Kayser & Chums, Music Spoken Here, The Marr’s Bar, Worcester, 23/01/2025

Jas Kayser – drums, Christos Stylianides – trumpet & electronics, Jamie Leeming – guitar, Daisy George – electric bass, Richie Sweet – percussion

Tonight’s hugely successful event was the first in MSH’s Up!Beat series which will feature four performances from drummer led bands, which will see Kayser’s Chum quintet followed by Louis Hamilton Foad’s Impossible Conversations group, Miranda Radford’s quartet and Lekan Babalola’s Sacred Funk 4tet. The Jazzmann hopes to be on hand to cover all four of these.

Kayser certainly got the series off to a terrific start with her Chums quintet attracting a large enthusiastic audience to The Marr’s Bar. It really was an excellent turn out and was the second big crowd of the year following the gig by the Latin Jazz septet TRYPL on January 9th. Review here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/trypl-music-spoken-here-the-marrs-bar-worcester-09-01-2025

2025 is shaping up to be a good year for promoter Dave Fuller and Music Spoken Here and what was particularly satisfying about tonight’s event was the number of young people n the audience. The Kayser group has created quite a buzz on the London jazz scene and often plays to younger crowds and it was good to see something of that vibe coming to Worcester.

Kayser is a hugely accomplished drummer with a phenomenal technique and is also a gifted and intelligent composer. Her early jazz mentors included such UK jazz luminaries as pianist Julian Joseph, saxophonist Tony Kofi and trumpeter Byron Wallen.

She subsequently studied at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, USA where her tutors included drummers Terri Lyne Carrington and Ralph Peterson, plus the Panamanian born pianist Danilo Perez.

Following graduation she spent time in Panama,  studying the music and culture of the country under the continuing guidance of Perez.

Since returning to the UK she has worked on the jazz and Afrobeat scenes as well as collaborating with a number of successful pop and rock musicians. She has worked with saxophonists Nubya Garcia and Shabaka Hutchings, her old mentor Julian Joseph and also with artists such as Alfa Mist and Jorja Smith. She is currently taking time out from touring worldwide with Lenny Kravitz, an engagement that has brought her plenty of public attention and which may even have helped to swell tonight’s crowd.

In between her busy touring schedule Kayser also finds time to run her own band, which she calls ‘Chums’. I recall seeing a version of the group performing a very enjoyable livestream event as part of the 2021 Cheltenham Jazz Festival Jazz Stream, the line up featuring Jamie Leeming on guitar, Daisy George on bass and Joao Caetano on percussion. They only played a couple of numbers, both of which were to be heard again tonight, but Kayser and the group certainly made a very good impression and I was very much looking forward to seeing tonight’s live show.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/cheltenham-jazz-festival-jazz-stream-2021-day-two-sunday-may-2nd-2021

As a bandleader Kayser has released two EPs, “Unforced Rhythm of Grace” (2020) and “Jas5ive” (2022). The second of these features some of the members of tonight’s quintet and is part of a series of recordings by emerging young jazz artists released by the Jazz Re;freshed organisation.

The quintet line up that Kayser brought to the Marr’s Bar included regular collaborators Leeming and George plus the versatile trumpeter Christos Stylianides and percussionist Richie Sweet.

At Kayser’s request the London based visual artist Medea Yankova was positioned in the audiences with her whiteboard and brushes, painting an image of the band and its audience as the music played, essentially improvising and responding to the music and to the occasion. I’ve seen such ‘action painters’ at other jazz gigs in the past, notably London based Gina Southgate and South Wales based Lucy Muse but this was very definitely a first for MSH and The Marr’s Bar and Yankova’s work was very different to that of the other two artists. I have enjoyed seeing the work of all three of them and when I spoke to Medea after the show we remarked on how intriguing it would be to have all three artists working at the same gig and seeing their different artistic responses to the music.

As befits a drummer led band Chums’ music is intensely rhythmic and borrows from a range of musical genres including jazz, Afrobeat, Latin, Caribbean, hip hop and more. Central to the group’s sound is the rhythmic interaction between Kayser’s drum kit, George’s Fender bass guitar and Sweet’s array of percussion, including congas, shakers and foot pedal struck cow bell (a la Pat Metheny drummer Antonio Sanchez).

When reviewing Kayser’s Cheltenham livestream I commented on the closeness of her musical relationship with her then percussionist Joao Caetano. There’s that same spark with the impressive Sweet, who like Caetano has filled the percussion chair with Incognito. The percussive interplay between Kayser and Sweet was a constant source of fascination throughout the course of the evening.

Unusually for MSH Kayser’s Chums played a single, long, unbroken set, perhaps occasioned by the need to get back to London after the show before Storm Eowyn kicked in. This was a format that worked well with the performance gradually growing in intensity throughout the course of the evening, and it has to be said that things were pretty dynamic right from the start.

The quintet introduced themselves with a lengthy segue comprised of “Fela’s Words” and “Feel It”, both of which feature on Kayser’s debut EP. The leader’s unaccompanied drum intro was answered by Sweet at the congas, the pair then combining to generate a vigorous Afrobeat style groove as electric bass and FX laden guitar were added to the equation. The addition of Stylianides trumpet and its accompanying electronics suggested the further influence of electric era Miles Davis as trance like electronic trumpet textures swirled and floated around the vibrant underlying grooves. As Stylianides’ trumpet playing came increasingly to the fore he unleashed a powerful solo that drew a similarly dynamic response from the rest of the band, the music building to a climax and eliciting a spontaneous round of applause from the delighted audience.

The crowd reaction presented a brief punctuation as the band moved almost seamlessly into the next part of the segue via an unaccompanied trumpet passage that saw Stylianides exploring more ambient territory, his trumpet sound treated via a combination of a hand manipulated effects unit plus a battery of foot pedals. Stylianides is very much an ‘electric trumpeter’ and electronics are a vital component of his sound. At the 2024 EFG London Jazz Festival I enjoyed seeing perform at the Green Note as part of an electro-improvising quartet led by guitarist Harry Christelis that also featured saxophonist George Crowley and drummer Will Glaser. This was a group that made even more extensive use of electronics and my review of that performance can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/christelis-stylianides-crowley-glaser-the-green-note-camden-town-london-15-11-2024-part-of-efg-london-jazz-festival

“Feel It” also featured a guitar solo from Jamie Leeming, who had impressed on the Cheltenham Festival Jazz Stream and had done the same at a CJF live show with Alfa Mist back in 2019. Here Leeming adopted a Metheny-like synclavier guitar sound, underpinned by George’s nimble but propulsive bass guitar lines and the interlocking rhythms of drums and percussion.  Stylianides then returned with a slightly more conventional trumpet solo, adopting a softer tone at the beginning before gradually ramping up the power and intensity.  The recorded version is a paean to positivity and features the insistent vocal refrain “feel it, feel it, the music represents our life”.

From the “JasFive” EP the tune “Jamie’s Blues” was written for and dedicated to guitarist Jamie Leeming but began with an unaccompanied electric bass feature from the impressive Daisy George, who was paying her second visit to The Marr’s Bar after appearing at a Music Spoken Here event back in September 2022 when she played with guitarist Tom Ford’s band. Kayser then joined her at the drums, playing with hard headed mallets, quickly followed by Sweet on congas, these three combining to create a groove that evolved into the first drum / percussion workout of the evening. As I remarked when reviewing the Cheltenham live stream performances these drum / percussion ‘battles’ are actually exercises in mutual collaboration and Kayser’s rapport with Sweet was genuinely impressive. In accordance with the tune title Leeming’s guitar gradually emerged as the lead instrument as he delivered a solo above a backdrop of interlocking rhythms and Stylianides’ breathy trumpet.

The title of “Darkness In The Light” referenced Kayser’s mixed race heritage and appears on the “JasFive” EP. Tonight’s performance combined hard grooving rhythmic passages with more reflective trumpet led episodes. Nevertheless when Stylianides soloed his playing embraced an almost trance like intensity, paving the way for the second drum and percussion workout of the evening. The recorded version also features vocals and lyrics from singer Ava Joseph, niece of Julian, plus saxophone courtesy of Giacomo Smith. Kayser and Joseph are great friends, with the drummer describing the vocalist as “my mixed race sister”.

Kayser’s pride in her heritage also finds expression in the title of “Half Face Race”, which also appears on “JasFive”.  The recorded version includes a spoken word passage from Kayser’s twin brother Ash, aka Aalvk. Introduced by drums and bass and featuring Sweet on shakers this piece featured Stylianides’ powerful, electronically enhanced trumpeting allied to the leader’s dynamic drumming.

The title of the new tune “Panama Chums No. 3” referenced Kayser’s time in the country with Danilo Perez and the friends that she made there. Currently it’s a working title and may eventually appear in another guise on her forthcoming album. Again this featured solos from Stylianides and Leeming, with the guitarist’s well controlled feature a masterclass in the building and releasing of tension, culminating in an anthemic closing section featuring soaring guitar and trumpet melodies.

From “JasFive” Kayser’s composition “Dream” featured echoed trumpet above a loping, subtly funky groove and included an extended electric bass feature from George plus a trumpet solo from Stylianides that was variously fluent, powerful and immersive.

The evening concluded with a dynamic performance of “Stupid On The Beat”, introduced by an extended drum solo from Kayser that combined an awesome rhythmic knowledge with incredible technique and an astonishing level of physical resourcefulness. Formerly a keen sportswoman Kayser still works out at the gym daily to maintain the fitness levels necessary for her all action drumming performances. Eventually Sweet and George joined to create a propulsive groove that fuelled final fiery solos from Stylianides and Leeming. In such a rhythm focussed band it was only appropriate that the performance should end with a final drum and percussion workout, this ending a consistently thrilling evening of music making on a suitably high note. The audience absolutely loved it.

This was vibrant, intensely rhythmic music played with a youthful energy and exuberance by five highly talented young musicians, all of them great technicians on their respective instruments. Due to the other commitments of its members the Chums quintet doesn’t get to play together live on a regular basis, but when they do they are determined to enjoy it. Their onstage enjoyment and their mutual respect for each other was infectious and communicated itself to the similarly supportive and enthusiastic crowd. The majority of the pieces sounded very different to the recorded versions, which also added extra interest. Kayser’s forthcoming album will be very eagerly awaited.

After the show both the group members and the audience were eager to see Yankova’s visual depiction of the evening’s performance. Her black and white image, painted on a whiteboard captured the spirit of the event perfectly, the vibrancy of the band’s performance expressed via the vibrant images of the players in action. But Yankova doesn’t limit herself to just painting the musicians and her caricatures of the people in the crowd were equally evocative, with audience members readily able to identify themselves and their friends thanks to Yankova’s uncanny eye for detail. Both the performers and the audience loved her work and I’m grateful to Medea for allowing me to reproduce an image of her work to illustrate this review.

Thanks also to Jas Kayser and Christos Stylianides for speaking with me after the show and to Jas for verifying the set list for me.

To find out more about Jas Kayser and to purchase her recordings please visit these sites;

http://www.jaskayserdrums.com

http://www.jaskayser.bandcamp.com

To learn more about Medea Yankova and to view more of her work please visit;

https://www.saatchiart.com/en-gb/medeayankova