The Michael Garrick Quartet with Chris Garrick

Phyllis Court Club, Henley, Sunday 17th October

In the company of Chris Garrick on violin, guitarist Dominic Ashworth and Matt Ridley on bass, Michael Garrick MBE presented his inimitable style of chamber jazz in a club concert at Phyllis Court, Henley on Sunday 17th October, with the virtuoso interplay between the musicians always to the fore in a richly varied programme.

A jaunty ?Lady Be Good’ set the evening off to a toe-tapping start, followed, in complete contrast, by ?Phyllis Court’, a restful and faintly melancholic piece composed for the occasion by Michael Garrick and inspired by a fragment of poetry found when renovations took place in the club’s Thames-side grounds. ?Lily Pond’, by Oxford based pianist Dorothy Shaw continued the reflective mood and then Garrick launched into a marvellously beguiling introduction to ?Out of Nowhere’ (a device he also used to great effect on ?First Born’) before son Chris took up the melody. The violinist conjures an astonishing range of sounds from his instrument and with his acute sense of time and brilliant dynamics, must be one of the most expressive jazz musicians playing anywhere in the world. All manner of good humoured quotes tumbled from his bow in rapid succession on ?Honeysuckle Rose’ (vocal by “Whispering” Michael Garrick) and ?Limehouse Blues’ and if further evidence of his versatility was needed, he added the percussive effects to Dominic Ashworth’s guitar tour de force ?Cuban Teashop’.

Ashworth’s solid rhythm really propelled the ?swing’ numbers, while his sensitive solos on ?Autumn in New York’ and Kenny Wheeler’s ?Everybody’s Song But My Own’ were amongst many highlights during the evening. He became the incarnation of Johnny Hodges on Michael Garrick’s transcription of Ellington’s ?Come Sunday’; so perfectly voiced one could believe that an entire orchestra was playing. ?Mood Indigo’ followed - “A tune,” Garrick remarked, “that can make a poor band sound good. Unlike ?Hello Dolly’ which can make a good band sound dreadful.” No such problems here and the band interpreted the Ellington classic beautifully.

Firmly anchored by Matt Ridley’s bass, ?Dusk Fire’, perhaps Garrick’s best known composition, grew in intensity from the opening piano statement to a maelstrom of sound and drama, that almost literally brought the house down. A charming original from the pen of Matt Ridley closed the concert and allowed the audience to gently recover from the previous excitement. 

With all the musicians at the top of their game, this was a memorable evening and organiser Dennis Cox is to be congratulated for having the imagination to bring the group together.

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