Nikki Iles and The Printmakers, Midlands Arts Centre (mac), Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, 31/05/2013.

Pianist, composer and educator Nikki Iles celebrated her fiftieth birthday on 16th May 2013 and marked this milestone by taking her “favourite band” The Printmakers out on the road for a UK tour. The band was initially instigated as part of a commission from Manchester Jazz Festival when Iles was asked to form a band featuring her favourite musicians. The line up included singer Norma Winstone and she and Iles together with guitarist Mike Walker form the core of the band. Various musicians have filled the other roles in the sextet but the current line up also includes saxophonist Mark Lockheart, double bassist Steve Watts and young drummer James Maddren. There’s a forty year age gap between the oldest and youngest members of the sextet making this a truly cross generational line up.

The Printmakers band name comes from the concept of “those who make (or leave) a mark” and reference has also been made to the members’ communal love of song. The Printmakers repertoire includes original material from within the group, mainly the music of Iles and the words of Winstone, but they also excel in imaginative interpretations of both jazz compositions and popular songs. Winstone is a brilliant exponent of the art of vocalese, adding her own words to already extant melodies and we were to hear several examples of this during two lengthy sets that covered a wide musical, emotional and dynamic range that drew from several musical genres. Both sets clocked in at around the hour mark making this Printmakers performance tremendous value for money.

Introduced by Mary Wakelam of Birmingham’s Jazzlines organisation the sextet began with Iles ‘composition “Meditation” with the pianist’s lyricism bolstered by Maddren’s delicate brushwork, Lockheart’s feathery soprano sax and Winstone’s ethereal wordless vocals.
Walker’s guitar motif heralded a segue into American pianist Fred Hersch’s composition “Stars”  with lyrics by Winstone. The singer’s words with their “endless stars” refrain spoke of the fragility of human relationships as Walker, Lockheart, now on tenor, and Iles took flight with some superb instrumental solos.

Although Iles is the nominal leader of the group and its chief composer the focus inevitably shifts to the more central figure of Winstone and it was the singer who handled the announcements. Both women share an affinity for the music of veteran trumpeter and composer Kenny Wheeler. His “Enowena” was originally written for “The Long Waiting” suite, a composition for a nineteen piece big band including Winstone that your correspondent was fortunate enough to have seen performed in this context at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the 2012 London Jazz Festival. It worked equally well in this small group format with Winstone’s soaring wordless vocal melody lines often doubled up by Lockheart’s tenor. The sax man subsequently shared the solos with Walker on guitar and Iles at the piano.

Another highlight of LJF 2012 was Iles’ trio performance at St. James’ Church Piccadilly in the company of bassist Mick Hutton and drummer Jeff Williams. This may have been a lunchtime “freebie” but it was quite superb with the trio playing material from Iles acclaimed Basho Records release “Hush”. One of the pieces performed was US guitarist Ralph Towner’s catchy but elegant “The Glide”, originally written for the group Oregon. Iles’ piano trio version is excellent but tonight we had the bonus of Winstone’s playful lyrics and scat vocals alongside Lockheart’s sinuous soprano sax and Maddren’s brushed drum grooves plus Iles’ expansive solo as the music slipped effortlessly back into piano trio mode.

Walker announced the group’s interpretation of Joni Mitchell’s achingly sad song “Two Gray Rooms”. Winstone invested the lyrics with genuine emotion, she can sing with real feeling as well as being a superb technician. She was well supported by Lockheart on soprano and Walker on sustain washed guitar, an effective contrast to the pure, singing tone he had adopted on the earlier numbers.

Winstone clearly has a deep seated fondness for the music of Ralph Towner and has also added words to his composition “A Breath Away”. She sang wordlessly on a gentle intro for voice and piano later adding lyrics on the theme of escape as the music became more urgent, almost earthy at times with powerful solos from Lockheart on tenor and Walker on guitar. An almost free jazz episode seemed to mark a segue into something else but if this was the case the tune was unannounced. It certainly provided a lively conclusion to the first set Winstone soared wordlessly, followed into the stratosphere by Walker and Lockheart, the latter now on soprano. Maddren’s crisp, driving drumming had been a constant through these passages and he climaxed his contribution with a fiery drum solo.The young drummer was never overawed by being in such illustrious company and his contribution was excellent throughout the evening his playing precise, assured and intelligent.

It had been an impressive first half from the Printmakers, slightly marred by sound problems which included a shriek of feedback when Walker first picked up his guitar at the beginning of the set. There was also an intermittent booming from the bass which made it difficult to hear Winstone’s words at times. The young sound engineers at the mac sorted out the problems in the interval and things improved for an even more impressive second set in which every nuance of Winstone’s vocals could be heard.

Things began with Iles “Under The Canopy”, a song inspired by the work of David Attenborough with Winstone’s wise words carrying a strong environmental message. Lockheart switched between bass clarinet and tenor sax and soloing on the latter. There was also a sparkling solo from Iles above the Latin/Brazilian rhythms laid down by her colleagues.

Walker’s “Clockmaker”, a dedication to the father of saxophonist Iain Dixon, was originally written for the Anglo/American group The Impossible Gentlemen of which Walker is a member. An impressive passage of solo guitar introduced the piece before Winstone’s wordless voice delivered the tune’s arresting melodic motif, this providing the jumping off point for a thrilling scat solo followed by an equally impressive statement from Iles at the piano. The subsequent dialogue between Walker and Lockheart also enthralled on this hugely successful arrangement with Winstone’s soaring vocals particularly suited to the Metheny like nature of the tune.

The impressionistic “Tideway” was written by Iles after a visit to Winstone’s house on the Kent coast. The sea imagery of Norma’s lyrics was classic Winstone with every word now clearly audible. Mood enhancing instrumental solos came from Lockheart on tenor and Iles at the piano.

An instrumental version of Kenny Wheeler’s modern day standard “Everybody’s Song But My Own” appears on Iles’ most recent trio album “Hush”. Tonight we were treated to a vocal version with lyrics by Jane White, the words a veiled pop at the music publishing industry. It’s a lovely tune however and one that was enhanced by solos from Winstone (wordless vocal), Walker and Iles. We also heard the first solo from Steve Watts, the man Iles refers to as “the anchor of the group”.

The group’s interpretation of Paul Simon’s “I Do It For Your Love” was another excursion into the world of the contemporary singer/songwriter , a superb ballad performance featuring delicate soprano sax and brushed drums, an intimate Winstone vocal and an ECM like use of space from Iles at the piano. Walker and Lockheart delivered suitably sensitive instrumental solos. Lovely.

To close the group performed Iles piece “High Lands”, a piece originally commissioned as part of a suite celebrating the life and work of the Shropshire writer Mary Webb. The tune appears on Iles 2003 quintet album “Veils”. It’s a rousing piece with an arresting folk melody which saw Lockheart again moving between soprano and tenor and taking a marathon solo on the latter, his tone huge and often positively earthy. Walker responded in kind with a strongly rock influenced solo before shadowing Maddren’s powerful drum feature. After the fragile beauty of much that had gone before this was the sound of a band revealing that its got teeth.

Mary Wakelam had little difficulty in persuading the group to return for an encore. Calming things down after the fireworks they chose to play Steve Swallow’s whimsical “The City of Dallas” with words and music both by Walker’s fellow Impossible Gent.  This was a charmingly eccentric piece of Americana which Winstone described as “our country and western song”, the deliberately na?ve lyrics reminding me at times of David Byrne. Winstone’s tongue in cheek delivery was embellished by solos from Walker on appropriately country tinged guitar and Iles at the piano. The chorus of “sweet dreams while you sleep” made it the perfect closing number and sent an attentive and appreciative audience away happy.

It’s unfortunate that The Printmakers have yet to find their way into the studio but that will be remedied in November 2013 when they are due to visit Derek Hook’s studio in the Lake District to record their début album. They’ve certainly got a wealth of fascinating material to draw upon and the eventual release should be a significant event in the British jazz calendar.

The Printmakers tour finishes at The Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho, London on Wednesday June 5th 2013. Happy Birthday, Nikki.