Soultime! ‘The Music of Bobby Timmons, Cheltenham Jazz Club, The Victory Club Ballroom, Cheltenham, Glos., 14/04/2025.

Leon Greening – piano, Alex Garnett – alto saxophone, Matyas Hofecker – double bass, Matt Home – drums

Soultime! is a quartet co-led by trumpeter Steve Fishwick and pianist Leon Greening dedicated to performing arrangements of music written by, or associated with, the late, great American pianist and composer Bobby Timmons (1935 -74).

Timmons is perhaps best remembered for his stint as a member of drummer / bandleader Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers group, for whom Timmons penned what is arguably his best known composition, the enduringly popular “Moanin’”, a tune that has indisputably become a modern day jazz standard.

Named after a Timmons album from 1960 that featured trumpeter Blue Mitchell, bassist Sam Jones and Blakey at the drums the Soultime! quartet was co-founded by Fishwick and Greening, two of the UK’s leading mainstream / bebop /  hard bop musicians,  with Hofecker and Home chosen to fill the bass and drum chairs. All four musicians have appeared regularly on the Jazzmann web pages either leading their own groups or in the bands of others. Soultime! represents a relatively new venture and it was the extremely favourable review written by regular guest contributor of the quartets December 2024 show at the Progress Theatre in Reading that convinced me that I just had to see this band. Trevor’s account can be found here:
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/soultime-jazz-in-reading-progress-theatre-reading-berkshire-13-12-2024

Tonight’s show had initially been billed as featuring the original line up but Fishwick has been suffering from some medical issues of late and was unable to attend. All at The Jazzmann wish him well for the future.

Rather than bringing in another trumpeter to fulfil the engagement Greening assumed the leadership of the quartet and called upon saxophonist Alex Garnett to fill the vacancy. Another of the UK’s leading jazz musicians Garnett is proficient on a range of saxophones but tonight specialised exclusively on alto, perhaps a reflection of the fact that Timmons worked regularly with the great alto saxophonist Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley (1928-75). Greening and Garnett are long term associates and Garnett regularly guests with Greening’s trio. Trevor enjoyed hearing the fruits of this alliance at the Progress Theatre, Reading in April 2023.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/leon-greening-trio-with-guest-alex-garnett-jazz-at-progress-progress-theatre-reading-berkshire-28-04-2023

Trevor has been lucky enough to see Greening on numerous other occasions with a variety of different line ups but I have seen him only once, with vocalist Kevin Fitzsimmons at the Wall2Wall Jazz Festival in Abergavenny back in 2016, with the pianist threatening to steal the show with some sparkling solos. I’ve also heard him on record with saxophonists Christian Brewer, Matt Wates and Glen Manby

The line up change was announced to the Cheltenham Jazz Club membership prior to the gig, which may have deterred a few, but there was still a pretty respectably sized audience at the Victory Club, although I have seen it fuller.

The evening was introduced by Cheltenham Jazz Club stalwart Spencer Evans, who subsequently handed over to Greening, sole leader for the night despite the erroneous accreditation of the group as the ‘Alex Garnett Quartet’.

Before the music started Greening told us something about Timmons’ tragically short life. One of Greening’s piano heroes Timmons was born in Philadelphia. His father and grandfather were both church ministers and the young Bobby was brought up with the music of the church, playing the organ at services in addition to learning the piano. Given this background it should come as no surprise that Timmons’ own writing and playing is informed by a strong gospel influence, to which can be added jazz, soul and funk.

Timmons had already made his mark with Blakey when his first album under his own name,  “This Here Is Bobby Timmons”,  was released on the Riverside record label in 1960. Recorded in the piano trio format with bassist Sam Jones and drummer Jimmy Cobb it’s probably his best known solo recording. The tune “This Here” is effectively the title track and also opens the record, so it was appropriate for Greening and the quartet to start with this. Straight away we heard those soul, funk and gospel influences as Garnett soloed melodically above a rolling gospel groove. The sharp suits worn by the members of the quartet paid tribute to the era of the music they were honouring while Greening’s ecstatic piano soloing channelled the spirit of Timmons, urged on by Hofecker’s propulsive bass lines and Home’s crisp, hard driving drumming. There was also a feature for Hofecker at the bass, temporarily liberated from his time keeping role, before Garnett returned towards the close. An excellent, fiercely swinging start.

In addition to his work as a composer Timmons also adapted the songs of others, specifically tailoring them to suit the sound of his own groups. A case in point was his arrangement of the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves” (originally written by Joseph Kosma) for the album “In Person”, a 1961 live recording documented at the Village Vanguard by a Timmons led trio featuring bassist Ron Carter and drummer Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath. That gospel influence fed into an opening series of piano and double bass exchanges, occasionally punctuated by Home’s drums. Garnett eventually joined to state the main melodic theme, prior to a further series of piano and bass exchanges. Gradually an easily swinging groove began to emerge, directed by Home’s brisk brush work and with Garnett soloing on alto as the momentum continued to build. Greening eventually took over at the venue’s acoustic upright piano for a dazzlingly inventive solo that combined powerful left hand rhythms with mercurial right hand chording. Greening really was in inspired form all evening, revelling in the challenge of sole leadership. Hofecker had the unenviable task of following him but rose to the challenge with a wonderfully dexterous bass solo before Garnett re-emerged to state the theme, prior to a closing series of piano and bass exchanges that brought the music full circle. This was an uncharacteristically upbeat and swinging arrangement of the very familiar “Autumn Leaves”, one of the best and most distinctive versions that I’ve heard.

During his stint with Adderley Timmons worked with bassist and composer Walter Booker. He later recorded Booker’s composition “Booker’s Bossa” for his 1967 album “Got to Get It!”, a rare octet recording. The Brazilian / Latin rhythm inspired another jaw dropping solo from Greening as he shared the honours with an equally expansive Garnett.

The temperature cooled a little as an extended solo piano introduction morphed into a performance of the ballad “I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You”, a tune recorded by Timmons on his 1961 album “Easy Does It”, another trio recording made with Jones and Cobb. Greening and Garnett continued to solo expansively, this time supported by Home on brushes. Hofecker was also featured as a soloist, with Garnett subsequently restating the theme prior to a final statement from Greening at the piano.

The first set concluded with a Timmons original that its composer recorded frequently. It appeared on the Messengers album “A Night In Tunisia”,  Timmons “In Person” live album and later on “Get to Get It!”. A genuine hard bop classic this represented an uptempo set closer with the clatter of Home’s sticks on rims fuelling powerful solos from Garnett on alto and Greening at the piano, with the drummer also involved in a series of explosive exchanges with both sax and piano. A terrific way to round off the first half.

The quartet hit the ground running in the second set with their version of perhaps Timmons second best known composition and a companion piece to the tune that opened the first set. “Dat Dere”, a companion piece to “This Here” also appears on Timmons’ debut, on the Adderley album “Them Dirty Blues” and the Blakey album “The Big Beat”. This featured more bravura piano soloing from Greening, who incorporated a quote from trumpeter Nat Adderley’s composition “Work Song” into his solo. Garnett and Hofecker were also featured prior to a final flourish from the irrepressible Greening.

Another Timmons arrangement of a standard, in this instance “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” was also featured on the Vanguard live recording. Beginning in the piano trio format the performance eventually included solos from Garnett, Greening and Hofecker.

The “Got to Get it!” album saw Timmons working with the arranger and conductor Tom McIntosh. The latter’s tune “Malice Towards None”, the titled sourced from a speech by Abraham Lincoln, appeared on the 2018 Timmons compilation “How Soon Is Now?” and was described by Greening as “a beautiful, introspective composition”.  Tonight’s performance began with Greening instructing Home to “set it up, man”, his improvised drum introduction, subsequently joined by piano and double bass, pointing the way. Garnett then entered the fray to sketch a melody over a gently rolling groove from which emerged solos from Greening, Garnett at his most incisive, and Hofecker. The piece resolved itself with Garnett’s restatement of the theme and the restoration of that slowly rolling rhythmic groove.

Next the quartet’s signature tune, “Soul Time”, from that 1964 album with Blue Mitchell, Sam Jones and Art Blakey. Many of Timmons’ solo recordings were made in the piano trio format and as a solo artist it was relatively unusual for him to work with horn players. Greening described this piece as “a funky 3 / 4 number” and it certainly delivered on the funk quotient as Greening and Garnett demonstrated their chops with soulful, vivacious solos.

The quartet signed off with “Joy Ride”, the closing track from “This Here”, a fast paced tune launched with a dynamic drum intro from Home and featuring a tricky, bebop inspired ‘head’ that provided the jumping off point for buccaneering, torrential solos from Garnett and Greening plus a hard hitting drum feature from the excellent Home.

Of course there was one Timmons tune that we hadn’t heard yet and the encore just had to be the immortal “Moanin’”, a piece that Greening’s father, a lifelong jazz fanatic, introduced the young Leon to when the boy was just eight or nine years old. First recorded by Blakey and The Messengers in 1958 the tune, with its classic call and response hook, is one of the most recognisable of all jazz compositions. Tonight’s rendition swung like the clappers as Garnett and Greening delivered their final barnstorming solos, with Home responding in kind at the drums.

Despite the unfortunate absence of Fishwick this was still an excellent performance with Garnett stepping admirably into the breach and delivering some fine solos as he put his own stamp on the proceedings. The rhythm team of Hofecker and Home were an admirably tight, propulsive and supportive unit, a great team who also shone on their individual features. But the real revelation was Greening, who grasped the nettle of leadership with both hands and delivered some iridescent individual solos whilst also expertly steering the ship as a whole. The brilliance of his playing was a fitting tribute to the memory of Timmons, a talented but troubled musician whose battles with drink and drugs ultimately led to his early demise at the age of just thirty eight.

Nevertheless Timmons’ musical legacy lives on and tunes such as “Moanin’” and “Dat Dere” will continue to be played for as long as jazz itself is played. But there was so much more to Timmons than just those two pieces and Greening and co. are helping to ensure that he is more widely remembered, while offering modern day jazz audiences some great entertainment in the process.

Soultime! have yet to record and Matt Home was the only member of the group with any ‘merch’ on offer. This included the album “All The Way” by the group Five Way Split, a quintet featuring Home, Hofecker, trumpeter Quentin Collins, saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos and pianist Rob Barron. Featuring a mix of originals and covers the album is reviewed elsewhere on these pages by Ian Mann, with Trevor Bannister covering a live performance by the group at the Progress Theatre, Reading in May 2024.

In addition there was “Mo is On”, the second album in a series paying homage to the late US pianist and composer “Elmo Hope” (1923-67) by an international quintet featuring Home, Steve Fishwick, saxophonist Herwig Gradischnig, pianist Claus Raible and bassist Giorgos Antoniou. I treated myself to a copy of this and it makes for very enjoyable and very interesting listening. I’ll admit to not knowing an awful lot about Elmo Hope but I’ll be taking a dive into his back catalogue, along with that of Bobby Timmons.

Meanwhile fans of Alex Garnett can see him at Cheltenham Jazz Club again when he returns to the Victory Club on 16th June 2025 playing tenor sax alongside Brandon Allen in a themed show titled “Celebrating The Tough Tenors”. Home will again be on drums and the group will be completed by organist Liam Dunachie. See http://www.cheltenhamjazz.co.uk for details.