Miranda Radford Quartet, Music Spoken Here, The Marr’s Bar, Worcester, 27/02/2025

Miranda Radford – drums, Klara Devlin – trumpet, Kyle Osborne – piano, Tom Sheen – double bass

Tonight’s gig was the third in Music Spoken Here’s Upbeat! Series featuring performances by drummer led bands. It followed two hugely successful and well attended shows by Jas Kayser and her Chums quintet and the young Birmingham based quintet Impossible Conversations, led by Louis Hamilton-Foad. Both of these performances are reviewed elsewhere on this site.

Tonight’s event brought yet another large crowd to the Marr’s Bar, the fourth big attendance in a row for MSH and it looks (fingers crossed) as if promoter Dave Fuller has finally got his message across, with people in Worcester and the wider Midlands area at last beginning to appreciate what a great series of musical events they have here on their doorstep. It’s also heartening to think that they’re beginning to trust Dave’s judgement and are willing to take a chance on young bands such as Impossible Conversations and the Miranda Radford Quartet.

The Radford group was a late replacement for Romarna Campbell’s Chaos Trio, who had been forced to postpone their Worcester date due to Campbell’s touring commitments in the US with the singer and songwriter Benjamin Clementine. It is intended that the Campbell trio will now appear at The Marr’s Bar in the autumn. In the meantime audiences will have the option of catching the Chaos Trio when they appear at Clun Valley Jazz in Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire on March 8th 2025.

It was Campbell that recommended the young up and coming drummer and composer Miranda Radford as her replacement. Campbell has acted as a mentor to Radford and her faith in her protegee was more than justified as the Radford quartet delivered a highly accomplished performance that was very well received by the burgeoning audience at The Marr’s Bar.

Radford and her quartet are gradually establishing a reputation as an excellent live act and perform regularly on the London jazz circuit.  Dave Fuller of Music Spoken Here first saw her play at the Brick Lane Jazz Festival and had no hesitation in bringing her to the Marr’s Bar. This rare foray out to the Midlands represented an excellent opportunity for the quartet to begin establishing a foothold on the wider UK jazz scene. It was a chance that Radford and her highly accomplished young band gleefully grabbed with both hands.

As an artist at the start of her musical career Radford’s online presence is still somewhat limited, but I learned a lot about her and her music from Dave Fuller’s highly informative “Piece Talks” interview with her, which can be accessed via the Music Spoken Here website or via the MSH Facebook page. The “Piece Talks” series features pre-performance interviews with all the bandleaders that visit the Marr’s Bar for MSH events and are recorded via Zoom for the MSH Youtube channel. It’s great for audiences to hear about what they can expect to hear and the interviews offer many fascinating insights into the lives of the working jazz musicians.

From the interview we learnt that Radford is just nineteen years old, originates from South West London and is of Jamaican heritage. Fascinated by the sounds of drums from an early age she received her first proper drum kit at the age of ten, initially playing pop and rock.

It was almost by accident that she joined a youth jazz band, with whom she began performing in public from a very young age. In addition to building her confidence as a performer her work with the band also fostered her interest in jazz, the young Radford finding the music’s emphasis on spontaneity and improvisation “liberating”. But by her own admission although music was important to the Radford family jazz wasn’t really on the radar, even though her paternal grandfather had briefly played jazz trombone back in Jamaica despite being discouraged to do so. Even so the young Miranda’s conversion to the jazz cause represented something of a ‘left turn’ as far as the rest of the family were concerned.

As her interest in, and commitment to, jazz increased she joined the London based Tomorrow’s Warrior’s programme, the much celebrated hothouse of young jazz talent founded by Gary Crosby and Janine Irons.

Radford’s natural talent as a drummer quickly saw her progressing to TW’s advanced development programme and then to the much lauded Tomorrow’s Warriors Female Frontline, an ever evolving showcase of young female jazz talent.

As a drummer and composer Radford cites the late, great Max Roach (1924 – 2007) as her primary influence, and particularly Roach’s melodic approach to the drums. She also cites the influence of her mentor Romarna Campbell and of her colleagues in the TW Frontline.

Radford is currently a first year student at Trinity Laban and her quartet includes two of her fellow students, pianist Kyle Osborne and bassist Tom Sheen. Trumpeter Klara Devlin is a student at the Royal Academy of Music and was a finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 2024. The winner was Cardiff based bassist and composer Ursula Harrison, another emerging talent to have appeared at MSH when she appeared with pianist Eddie Gripper’s trio in January 2024.

Osborne was the only member of tonight’s group that I had seen play before.  Also known as Ky Osborne he impressed with his own K.O. Quartet at the 2025 Bath Jazz Festival weekend with a set that took an imaginative and adventurous approach to a largely standards based programme. My account of this performance can be found as part of my Weekend coverage.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/fifth-annual-bath-jazz-weekend-widcombe-social-club-bath-friday-3rd-january-2025

For tonight’s show Radford promised us a mix of original compositions plus contemporary takes on hard bop and swing tunes from the likes of composers such as Roy Hargrove, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, Cedar Walton and Tim Warfield.

She is currently working on further original compositions with the intention of recording an album of her own material at some point in the future. As she stated time is very much on her side. And she’s in no rush, But it is an album that will be warmly welcomed when it does finally appear.

Tonight’s performance was closer to straight ahead jazz than either Kayser and Impossible Conversations had been, particularly the latter who put the emphasis very much on funk and fusion. However something that Impossible Conversations had in common with the Radford quartet (other than their youth) was a love for the music of the late, great American trumpeter Roy Hargrove (1969 – 2018). Impossible Conversations romped through his brief but tempestuous composition “Crazy Race” while the Radford quartet took a more considered approach to Hargrove’s “Home Life Revisited”, with Devlin developing the main melodic theme and taking the first solo, the fluency of her playing offering ample evidence as to just how she became a BBC Young Jazz Musician finalist. She was followed by Osborne at his Roland RD-64 keyboard, largely adopting an acoustic piano sound. Sheen was also featured on double bass before Devlin returned to restate the theme. Radford marshalled things skilfully from the drum kit, her playing crisp, assured and authoritative.

The Radford original “Motion” was ushered in by a passage of unaccompanied trumpet by Devlin, who subsequently stated the theme as piano, bass and drums were added. Following a series of variations she handed over to Osborne for the first solo, the young pianist again impressing with his powers of invention and his virtuoso technique. Devlin then took a more conventional jazz solo on trumpet as the momentum of the music continued to build, directed by Radford’s precise but propulsive drumming.

A second original, “Say What You Mean”, was ushered in by Osborne at the keyboard, with bass and drums added before Devlin stated the main theme on trumpet and took the first real solo. Again the momentum began to build with Devlin’s fiery soloing fuelled by the leader’s dynamic drumming. The pot kept bubbling during the course of Osborne’s subsequent keyboard solo. The quality of these two original pieces ensured that they sat well alongside the outside material and promised much for the eventual recording.

An arrangement of the Wayne Shorter composition “Dance Cadaverous” lowered the temperature and was generally less frenetic, but with Osborne’s thoughtful keyboard solo incorporating an element of wilful distortion.

The first set concluded with a playful arrangement of the Thelonious Monk composition “Think of One” by Wynton Marsalis. Who would have believed that Wynton could be so joyous?! This was introduced by Radford at the kit and the quartet had great fun with a series of instrumental exchanges jam packed with musical humour. The solos were conducted in the same spirit, Osborne quoting from “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” and again introducing an element of distortion. Further solos came from Sheen on double bass and Devlin on trumpet before Radford enjoyed an extended drum feature at the close.

It was a great, fun way to end an excellent first set and an appreciative audience gave the young quartet a rousing reception.

With Devlin and Sheen having to catch the last train back to London it was originally intended that the quartet would play a single unbroken set, but in the end it was decided to take a quick break before the quartet returned for a shorter second set.

This began with a Latin-esque arrangement of the Cedar Walton composition “Bolivia”, featuring an infectious groove and the bright tone of Devlin’s trumpet as she shared the solos with Osborne at the keyboard and Radford at the kit.

The next tune was described by Radford as “a little arrangement of a banger”, the implication being that it was up to us, the audience, to decipher what it was. This proved to be an extraordinarily contemporary transformation of the trad jazz anthem “When The Saints Go Marching In” via an arrangement by the American trumpeter Nicholas Payton. This was the old chestnut as you’ve never heard it before, and led me to draw parallels with the imaginative treatment of jazz standards at Bath by Osborne’s K.O. Quartet. Tonight’s performance was introduced by a passage of unaccompanied piano from Osborne followed by Devlin’s heavily disguised theme statement, the familiar melody eventually emerging and showing its face. Osborne then stretched out even further with an inventive and expansive piano solo, before Devlin returned for a further series of variations on the theme.

The final item was actually two pieces segued together, beginning with the freely structured “Backward Step” by the American saxophonist Tim Warfield. Essentially acting as the intro this evolved into the Thelonious Monk composition “Evidence” with a passage of unaccompanied trumpet from Devlin acting as the bridge. Once joined by the rest of the band she developed the theme and took the first solo. Osborne followed at the keyboard before Sheen delivered one of the standout moments of the night, a stunning double bass solo that combined melodicism and virtuosity and earned him one of the biggest ovations of the night. Devlin’s theme restatement, plus a drum flourish from Radford, seemed to signal the close, but a second freely structured episode eventually led to further solos from Osborne and Devlin, plus a final drum feature from leader Radford.

Despite the calls for a deserved encore that really was it, Devlin and Osborne had a train to catch. Meanwhile Radford and Sheen were staying over in the Midlands prior to playing an early evening show with pianist Kezia Abuoma, Radford’s colleague in the Tomorrow’s Warriors Frontline, in Birmingham the following day.

This was another excellent show that kept up the high standards of MSH’s Upbeat! series. The young musicians played with an admirable fluency and maturity, a quality that extended to Radford’s tune announcements. They put their own stamp on their chosen material, but Radford’s original writing also exhibited considerable potential and promised well for the future. I’m sure we will here a lot more from her, and also from Devlin, Osborne and Sheen, all of whom were excellent.

They were well received by the Worcester audience and all made a lot of new fans and friends tonight.

My thanks to all four band members for speaking with me after the gig and to Miranda Radford for clarifying the set list with me.

Miranda Radford, Klara Devlin, Kyle Osborne, Tom Sheen. Remember those names. You’ll be hearing a lot more from them both individually and collectively in the future.

 

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