Swing Strings Trio, Brecon Jazz Club, The Muse, Brecon, 14/01/2025

Xenia Porteous – violin, Ben Creighton-Griffiths - harp, Ashley John Long – double bass

Brecon Jazz Club’s 2025 programme commenced with this excellent performance by the Swing Strings Trio, a group led by violinist Xenia Porteous that also featured the prodigious talents of jazz harpist Ben Creighton-Griffiths and double bassist Ashley John Long.

All three musicians are based in Cardiff and all are great friends of Brecon Jazz, having performed as individuals at many Club and Festival events over the years. Their superb musicianship has won them many admirers and each of the three members is a real audience favourite, so it came as no surprise to find such a large and supportive audience at this event.

Swing Strings Trio was first formed in 2021 by Porteous at the request of Brecon Jazz Festival and played its first show in the ballroom of the Castle Hotel as part of that year’s “Wherever You Are” hybrid Festival.

Although Porteous, Creighton-Griffiths and Long were all popular and established figures on the South Wales jazz scene that show was the first time that they had ever performed together in public as a trio. My account of that performance can be found as part of my Festival coverage here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/wherever-you-are-brecon-jazz-festival-2021-the-castle-hotel-brecon-sunday-22nd-august-2021

Brecon Jazz organisers Lynne Gornall and Roger Cannon have a happy knack of bringing musicians together for seemingly one off collaborations that work out so well that the alliance ends up become something more permanent. This was certainly the case with Swing Strings Trio and although not a regular working band the members of SST have established an impressive rapport and continue to perform together on an occasional basis. All of its members are phenomenally busy musicians and are involved in a multitude of other very different projects, but they clearly love coming together as Swing Strings Trio when the opportunity arises.

The Jazzmann likes to think that he predicted the Trio’s continuing existence, having commented in 2021;
“Swing Strings Trio went down a storm with the crowd and one suspects that this combination of musicians could become a highly popular attraction on the South Wales jazz circuit and beyond if they decide to stay together. An undeniable success as a one off collaboration Swing Strings Trio looks to be a project with many more potential miles in it. “

As the group name suggests the Swing Strings Trio plays music from the swing era, in a style sometimes reminiscent of gypsy jazz, but sounding substantially different thanks to the unusual, possibly unique, instrumental line up.

Tonight’s programme was selected by Porteous, who also handled the onstage announcements. Things got off to a lively start with a gypsy jazz version of the song “Exactly Like You”, with all three protagonists delivering wonderfully fluent and vivacious solos. In this gypsy jazz setting Creighton-Griffiths’ harp fulfilled both a melodic and rhythmic function, essentially filling the roles that might normally be filled in this context by a combination of lead and rhythm guitars.

The majority of the performances followed a similar format with Porteous stating the theme and taking the first solo, followed by Creighton-Griffiths and Long. It might have been predictable but with dazzling playing of such a high quality nobody was complaining. The next song to receive the unique Swing Strings Trio treatment was the jazz standard “It Had To Be You”, with all three musicians continuing to excel.

Many of Porteous’ selections dated back to the ‘Golden Age’ of American songwriting of the 1920s and 30s. However there was a change of both style and date with “Bossa Dorado”, a composition written in the 1980s by the French guitarist / violinist Dorado Schmitt. It’s a tune that has become a modern day gypsy jazz standard and in another change of format was kick started here by Creighton-Griffiths’ theme statement and subsequent solo. Further solos came from Porteous on violin and Long on double bass, with Porteous playing pizzicato behind Long’s solo.

There was a change of pace with the ballad “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”, introduced by an exquisite violin and harp duet and featuring further solos for harp and double bass.

The energy levels picked up once more with a playful rendition the 1936 swing tune “Pennies From Heaven”, with Porteous stating the theme and leading off the solos, swiftly followed by Creighton-Griffiths. I’ve written many times of Long’s extraordinary ability as a bass soloist and his astonishing virtuosity was much in evidence here, his solo accompanied by Creighton-Griffiths’ rhythmic underpinning, the harpist’s playing reminiscent of that of a rhythm guitarist.

The oldest tune of the evening was probably the 19th century Slavic folk tune “Waves of the Danube”, performed here in the style of a jazz waltz, with Long again impressing as a soloist.

The bassist vacated the stage for the next number, a delightful duo performance of “La Vie En Rose”, a song indelibly associated with Edith Piaf. I have also praised Creighton-Griffiths’ virtuosity and his playing was particularly impressive here, sympathetically shadowed and supported by Porteous on violin.

Long returned for the Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh song “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”, performed as a lively swing tune with the familiar soloing order restored, with Porteous topping and tailing the piece with theme statements and taking the first solo, followed by Creighton-Griffiths and Long.

The first set concluded with two tunes that Porteous described as “gypsy jazz classics”. Written in the 1990s by the virtuoso gypsy jazz guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg and dedicated to the composer’s sister “For Sephora” is another comparatively modern piece that has become a gypsy jazz standard. Once again Porteous’ theme statement and solo variations were followed by solos from Creighton-Griffiths and Long.

From a much earlier vintage “Joseph, Joseph” is a traditional Yiddish tune that was adapted for the Hot Club format by Django Reinhardt. Introduced by harp and violin, subsequently joined by double bass, this fast and furious rendition featured virtuoso solos from all three musicians and ended the first half on a high note. The audience loved it.

The second set began in similarly energetic fashion with the Duke Ellington classic “It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing”. This was a sure fire winner of a tune, guaranteed to get the audience back on side straight away as they enjoyed the vivacious soloing of Porteous, Creighton-Griffiths and Long.

A second bossa excursion saw the trio interpreting the Luiz Bonfa song “Manhã de Carnaval” , introduced by an unaccompanied harp passage, with Creighton-Griffiths subsequently joined by the sound of Long’s melodic double bass. Creighton-Griffiths then stated the main theme, this followed by solos from both violin and harp.

We had been promised that the trio would be joined by a special guest in the second half. With several other musicians in the audience, among them bassist Aidan Thorne and saxophonist Deborah Glenister there was much speculation as to who it might be.

It actually turned out to be violinist, and sometime vocalist, Dave Favis-Mortlock of the locally based band Fiddlebop, who had appeared at Brecon Jazz Club’s December 2024 event as one of the guests of pianist Terence Collie’s trio. Th e second half of Collie’s performance had essentially been a jam session featuring a whole raft of guest musicians. My account of this event can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/terence-collie-trio-guests-brecon-jazz-club-the-muse-arts-centre-brecon-10-12-2024

Favis-Mortlock had selected two pieces to perform with the Trio, a fast paced arrangement of Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose” and a slowed down version of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”.

The Waller number saw Porteous and Favis-Mortlock trading violin solos, their exuberant exchanges fuelled by the chugging rhythms generated by Creighton-Griffiths and Long, both of whom also featured as soloists.

On “Night and Day” Favis-Mortlock stated the theme before being joined by Porteous, with the pair again sharing solos and trading phrases.

It was an interesting and entertaining episode but ultimately the core trio sounded better, as evidenced by their version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song “My Favourite Things”, performed here as a jazz waltz. Introduced by a harp and violin duet, with Long later entering the fray, this imaginative arrangement also included solos from all three musicians.

Composed by Joe Myrow the tune “Blue Drag” was first recorded by pianist Earl Hines in 1932. A true blues arranged in a gypsy jazz style this was one of the best performances of the night with superbly constructed solos from all three protagonists.

The Gershwin song “Lady Be Good” was a genuine swing tune and was delivered at a rapid clip with the three musicians all delivering fluent and flamboyant solos.

The rarely heard ballad “Anouman” was one of Django Reinhardt’s last compositions. Porteous described the piece as “haunting” and this opinion was endorsed by a beautiful and moving trio performance. Introduced by the duo of softly plucked harp and gently brooding violin, with double bass subsequently added, this piece was something of a showcase for Porteous who played with great taste, control and delicacy throughout. A truly exquisite performance.

The evening concluded with the up-tempo “Tchavolo Swing”, written by gypsy jazz guitarist Tchavolo Schmitt, cousin of the aforementioned Dorado Schmitt. Porteous also informed us that the tune features in the film “Latcho Drom” (translating as “Safe Journey”) a 1993 French made film directed by Tony Gatlif that tracks the migration of the Romani people from north west India to Spain, documenting the journey with musical performances rather than dialogue. I’d never heard of it before, but it sounds like a ‘must see’.

The trio’s performance of the piece was fast, fiery, furious and swinging as all three signed off with a flourish, to the obvious delight of the audience.

An emotional Porteous thanked Lynne Gornall and Roger Cannon for initially bringing the Swing Strings Trio together and for their support of her and her music over a number of years. She also expressed her gratitude to Lynne and Roger for encouraging her to step out of her musical comfort zone via Brecon Jazz Club and Festival collaborations with with the Czech saxophonist Pawel Zamel, jazz french horn player Rod Paton,  accordion / violin duo Faith i Branko.  and the La Malbec Orquesta , led by the Argentinian saxophonist Gustavo Firmenich.

Even handling the on stage announcements was new to Porteous, who had been encouraged to take on this role with Swing Strings Trio by Lynne and Roger. It was a given that her playing would be excellent but I was also very impressed by the way she warmed to this new task. Her tune announcements were lucid,  carried just the right amount of information and were delivered with a dash of humour, but without regressing into mere jocularity. Well done Xenia.

And well done to Swing Strings Trio for an excellent all round performance that was very different to the 2021 show and included a lot of different material. These are not the kind of musicians to rest on their laurels.

A great way to start the New Year at Brecon Jazz Club.

 

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