Blistering bebop and stunning songs

-

Take a bit of modern bebop and add some Bruce Springsteen and the Eagles, and you've got the makings of an era-defining gig at the Barbican on day three of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Saxophonist Joshua Redman bought his latest jazz outfit to London and stunned an appreciative crowd. Two standing ovations proved the quality of this gig last night.

Joshua Redman at the Barbican (c) Mark Allan


Vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa joined Redman for what must count as one of the highlights of this year's festival. A new line-up that evoked the joy of Redman's latest album Where are we, with Paul Cornish (piano), Philip Norris (bass) and Nazir Ebo (drums).

Some of my favourite tracks from the album were there: Chicago Blues, Streets of Philadelphia and Stars Fell on Alabama, the latter of which was followed by a beautiful rendition of John Coltrane's Alabama. Several of the tracks began with individual solos, including the truly beautiful By The Time I Get To Phoenix, which Redman himself introduced. His sax ranges across the whole spectrum from the lowest notes of the tenor right up to some unfeasibly high harmonics and one of the things he does so, so well is the sotto voce quiet that is hard to do at all.

For each of the cities that Redman visits with this band, they're performing a specially-chosen and for us in London, it was A Foggy Day in London Town, which was particularly apt, given the November weather that is often the case for the EFG LJF. Anyone who left at the end of that final dedication to London missed the encore of the Eagles' Hotel California. Each one of these covers was done with love and a touch of humour.

There are few jazz gigs that include Springsteen and the Eagles, but Redman managed all the tracks with aplomb and originality.

I reviewed his album for KindofJazz, and it's definitely worth a listen for the kind of jazz that thrills with its modernity and hints of the giants on whose shoulders Redman stands with pride and genius.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

-
Image
Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album -  Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man  brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...
Read more

The Darius Brubeck Quartet live at Jazz Cafe Posk

-
Image
My first visit to Jazz Cafe Posk in London's Hammersmith coincided with the 60th anniversary of Posk - The Polish Social and Cultural Association - and the first performance in the club by pianist and composer Darius Brubeck. Photo credit @ Hilary Seabrook Darius was 10 when he joined his father on a historic tour of Poland. The Dave Brubeck Quartet toured Poland from 6 to 18 March 1958, just three years after the communist regime's ban on jazz was lifted. Without a doubt, this was the biggest jazz event in post-war Poland, with the archetypal and hugely successful outfit of Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass) and Joe Morello (drums). Sixty years later, in  2018, Darius took his own quartet - the same one he brought to Posk in May 2024 - to Poland for a significant tour, recorded and released as the Live in Poland album. Several of the tracks from this album were in the set at Posk and this quartet displayed in depth the benefits of playing to...
Read more

‘Memory in Motion’ with The Jazz Defenders

-
Image
A packed Pizza Express in London’s Soho was blasted by The Jazz Defenders as they unleashed their new album on the world - celebrating International Jazz Day 2024 in style. The Jazz Defenders Memory in Motion is a great album, out now on Haggis Records , with touches of Horace Silver and tinges of Herbie Hancock. There was something slightly disconcerting about an electronic keyboard sitting on top of the wonderful Dean Street Steinway and George Cooper handled them both with a dexterity and panache that made it all make sense. A talented bunch, The Jazz Defenders take their influences from wherever they choose, including some of the other ensembles in which they strut their stuff.  Horns are courtesy of Jake McMurchie (tenor sax) and Nick Malcolm (trumpet) and they are as much at ease on stabbing and intricate lines as they are on solos through the tracks. A solid rhythm and added excitement comes from Ian Matthews (drums) and Will Harris (double bass and bass guitar). Matthews ...
Read more