Winner of the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best Media, 2019

Feature

Monday at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, 06/05/2013.

image

by Ian Mann

May 14, 2013

The sun shines on the final day of an excellent festival.

MONDAY AT CHELTENHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL, 06/05/2013.

Photograph of James Mainwaring of Roller Trio by Tim Dickeson http://www.timdickeson.com


Bank Holiday Monday at Cheltenham Jazz Festival has often seemed like a bit of an anti climax with many visitors heading for home and with interesting gigs sometimes a bit thin on the ground. My initial reaction on receiving the festival brochure was that the only event worth seeing was the double bill of Mercury Music Award nominees Roller Trio and Polar Bear but as is my wont I decided to try out another couple of events by performers I knew precious little about in a spirit of pure experimentation. As it turned out I thoroughly enjoyed the performance by Gabby Young & Other Animals and also the Festival Showcase, a double bill featuring young local artistes Fresh Dixie Project and singer songwriter George Montague and his band. The brilliant sunshine on what was thus far the warmest day of the year ensured that a festive atmosphere prevailed throughout the day with very healthy attendances for events on the Festival Free Stage. In the evening the festival organisers were rewarded with a sell out crowd for the performance by Van Morrison in the Big Top. This and Friday night’s show by rising star Laura Mvula were the only events to have sold out in advance but concert attendances throughout the festival were very good indeed. 


GABBY YOUNG & OTHER ANIMALS

This lunchtime performance was the only event that I attended in the Festival’s Big Top. In 2012 I was less than impressed with the acoustics of the venue and decided to concentrate on the more genial environments of the Parabola Arts Centre and the Jazz Arena this time around, particularly as they tend to stage the more “cutting edge” events anyway.

Wiltshire born singer Gabby Young seemed to thrilled to be playing her local jazz festival. Originally a guitar playing singer/songwriter Young now fronts a seven piece band with a horn section of trumpet, trombone and /tenor sax/tuba plus a double bass giving the music a discernible jazz element. Young describes her music as “circus swing” and her songs encompass elements of chanson, vaudeville and burlesque, a dash of jazz, a touch of folk and a dollop of pop and rock.

The exotically clad Young, in a flared skirt and flamboyant headress, is a born entertainer who involved and engaged the crowd throughout today’s set. As a performer who appears at a diverse range of festivals she’s probably used to appearing in front of audiences who may be unfamiliar with her music and she knows how to get a crowd onside from the off through a combination of musical skill and elements of pure theatre.

Young is from the same mould of kooky songwriters as Kate Bush, Bjork, Joanna Newsom and others but her love of musical theatre makes her even more of an entertainer. But behind the wackiness there seemed to be an intelligence and seriousness behind many of her lyrics. Courting both populism and a wilful eccentricity Young is the kind of artist who has the words “cult following” etched all over her yet she’s capable of appealing to the uninitiated as she proved today.

Young’s voice is an extraordinarily flexible instrument with an almost operatic range and on one or two of the solo numbers punctuating the set she proved that she’s also a skilled acoustic guitarist. Her tightly drilled band swapped instruments with alacrity with Young’s partner, co-songwriter and musical right hand man Stephen Ellis gravitating between guitar, keyboards, banjo and melodica. Fiery trumpeter Richard Butcher, a relatively new face to the band, led the horn section with panache but basically everybody was right on the money with virtually every member of the band also providing backing vocals.

The set kicked off with new single “In Your Head” and progressed through “Ladies Of The Lake” and the “The Ones That Got Away” which saw the crowd clapping along as an audience member was dragged on to the stage to play melodica in tandem with Ellis. Another moment of pure showbiz saw the entire band congregated around drummer Neil’s kit for a furious percussion battle.

At this point the solo song “Male Version Of Me” with its refrain “you’re perfect for me” introduced a more reflective element to the proceedings with Young coming over like a more elaborately costumed Gwyneth Herbert. Later “Honey” explored similar territory but only after we’d been treated to rousing band pieces “The Answer’s In The Question” , “Open Up Your Heart” and the alternately rousing/sinister spaghetti Western of “Horatio”, an audience sing along that saw Young split the crowd into two competing choirs under the direction of Ellis and Butcher. More pure showbiz. 

Young and her Animals rounded off the show with the banjo driven “We’re All In This Together”, which may or may not have been a commentary on the current political situation, and “Segment” which featured the soaring violin of Miss Millie.

Not knowing at all what to expect I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this show and many others appeared to agree with me. Young is a one off and although she’s unashamedly an entertainer there’s no sign of any compromise in her artistic vision. I’ve not heard either of her albums, 2009’s “We’re All In This Together” or 2012’s “The Band Called Out For More” but suspect they may have hidden depths. On this evidence Gabby Young’s star seems destined to keep on rising.

Ian’ Star Rating 3.5; Stars


FESTIVAL SHOWCASE; FRESH DIXIE PROJECT and GEORGE MONTAGUE

Over at the Jazz Arena a pleasingly large audience witnessed two exciting performances by young local artists. Admission was only a fiver which must have helped boost audience numbers and there also seemed to be a groundswell of local support for these two young Gloucestershire based acts.

The show was introduced by John Oldham of the Oldham Foundation who were supporting the event. First up were the young quintet Fresh Dixie Project who performed an energetic set mixing jazz classics with original songs from their “Ipso Facto” EP. Playing with a youthful brio they didn’t sound anything like a “Dixie” act which was just fine by me. Their sound is more “rat pack” updated for the 21st century.

The scarily young musicians kicked off with “Everybody Wants To Be A Cat” featuring the voice of Jamie Johnson and the tenor sax of his front line partner Michael Jarman. Guitarist Jay Biles and drummer happily Mark Gilyead applied rock rhythms to much of the group’s material, something that worked surprisingly well.

The much covered “Summertime” was given an appealing Latin twist with instrumental solos coming from Biles on guitar, Jarman on tenor plus some rousing boogie woogie style piano from Ben Golding who often came on like a budding Jools Holland.. Meanwhile vocalist Johnson revealed that he’s no slouch in the scatting department.

A clutch of original songs included “The Charmer” which saw the group adding a reggae tinge to the music as Biles wigged out with a rock influenced guitar solo. However the band’s chief instrumentalist remained Jarman who added powerful solos to “Fish in the Sea” and the insistent “Ipso Facto”, easily the best of the self penned material.Meanwhile drummer Gilyead was featured on “Flowers and Cigarettes”

Johnson had visibly grown in confidence as the set progressed and he was clearly well up for it as the band closed their programme out with “Hit The Road Jack” and Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing”, the latter featuring Jarman’s turbo charged tenor.

The youthful quintet were given a standing ovation by a well packed Jazz Arena. They won themselves a lot of friends and an already commendably full date sheet, including other festivals, is sure to increase accordingly. It was all a bit mainstream for me but there was no doubting the quintet’s youthful verve and undoubted musical skill and I very much enjoyed it. I wish them well in their future efforts, like Gabby Young before them these boys know how to put on a show.

Putting on a show seemed to be becoming the theme of the day. Twenty one year old singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist George Montague is another born entertainer, a restless stage presence with a goofy, almost camp sense of humour. More importantly he’s a singer with a soulful voice that is well suited to his pop/r’n'b material and an excellent pianist who is also capable of occasionally doubling up on guitar or even ukulele.

Although he was the least obviously “jazz” act that I saw this weekend his “notsobigband” featured a number of names that have graced the Jazzmann pages including guitarist Lee Jones, drummer Tom Hooper and a rather underused Andy Hague on trumpet. Bristol based Hague was part of a horn section that also featured trombonist Matt Coleman and tenor saxophonist Dan Foster. The electric bass of Harry Sutton rounded out the group.

Montague began at the piano for “Blood Ties” a song featuring an agreeable funk groove and an opening solo from guitarist Jones.

“Love Struck Fool”, a modern variation on the Cinderella story was sourced from Montague’s d?but album “Have You Met George?” and exhibited a real r’n'b raunch with features for Jones and Coleman plus the whistling of Montague.

The eccentric “Otto Orange” was described by Montague as being about a “teenager who doesn’t do much”. The song saw Montague moving to his acoustic guitar (apparently called “Gloria”) and borrowing from Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit In The Sky” riff.

Montague moved back to piano for “Speechless”, another song steeped in vintage r’n'b and fuelled by a tight bass and drum groove plus the punchy attack of the horns and particularly featured tenor soloist Foster.

Foster and bassist Sutton were also in fine form on “Mind”, another song sourced from Montague’s d?but album.

The title of the next piece eluded me but featured Montague moving between electric piano and ukulele as Sutton’s funky electric bass groove laid the foundations for solos from Foster, Hague, Coleman and Jones on one of the set’s most obviously jazz orientated pieces.

The mock horror of “Hamish” featured Montague at his most eccentric. A restless performer the manic energy and wacky humour of his performance had many of the audience wondering ” just what is he on?” - the answer being nothing more than youthful ebullience and enthusiasm hopefully. Twice he left the stage to race dementedly around the venue as the band played on, Lee Jones holding the fort with an excellent guitar solo.

“Evil Twin” was played after a vociferous request from a female member of the audience and adopted a ska groove, with another quasi theatrical performance from Montague climaxed by a powerful solo from Hooper at the drums. The set concluded with audience sing-along “The Smoke”. Like Fresh Dixie project Montague enjoyed an overwhelmingly enthusiastic reception.

Overall Montague’s material was all a bit too “poppy” for my tastes but once again I enjoyed what I had seen. Montague is obviously a considerable talent, a powerful singer and a more than useful instrumentalist. He’s also got a genuine stage presence, albeit a decidedly wacky one. The singer was well served by an excellent band, many of them comparative veterans who wouldn’t be playing with this guy if he hadn’t got what it takes. Not entirely my cup of tea (something incidentally, that Montague uses as a prop) but expect to hear a lot more from George Montague. Mainstream success may beckon and I wouldn’t rule out his coming back to headline in the Big Top some time in the future.

Ian’s Star Rating 3.5 Stars each


ROLLER TRIO / POLAR BEAR

The double bill of the Rollers and the Polars was too good to miss. It’s been nearly ten years since Seb Rochford’s Polar Bear first burst on the scene helping to create a sub genre of British jazz whose practitioners have received several Mercury nominations with the young Leeds based Roller Trio the latest beneficiaries.

The Mercury nomination was a terrific boost for the Roller Trio’s profile and they now find themselves playing to large festival audiences rather than to a handful of people in a bar back in Yorkshire. Fortunately they’ve got the chops to deal with their new found acclaim and their live shows exhibit a burgeoning self confidence, there’s a real assuredness about the trio’s playing.

I very much enjoyed the trio’s album upon its release and in 2012 enjoyed seeing the band live for the first time at The Vortex as part of London Jazz Festival. The venue was rammed for a triple bill that also featured the Norwegian band Pixel plus the London based WorldService Project. Roller Trio acquitted themselves superbly playing with swagger and conviction, qualities they also brought to Cheltenham.

They commenced with album opener “Deep Heat” which featured the distinctive group sound of James Mainwaring’s edgy. earthy, bellicose tenor sax and guitarist Luke Wynter’s flexible and intelligent guitar chording with Luke Reddin Williams’ powerful but sophisticated drumming the glue holding it all together. Both Mainwaring and Wynter make judicious use of electronics to enhance their sound with the group’s soundscapes occasionally entering into the realm of dub reggae. It’s the way in which these elements mesh together that’s most impressive, Roller Trio are much more than the sum of their parts.

“Roller Toaster” offered a good example of Mainwaring treating his own sound by the use of loops before a passage of similarly layered guitar provided the gateway into “The Nail That Stands Up”, the piece the trio played at the Mercury Awards presentation and arguably their biggest “hit”. Like all of Roller Trio’s compositions the tune grew out of spontaneous jamming, evidence that improvisation remains at the core of the group’s music.

Mainwaring handled such announcements as there were but basically the group just seemed happy to play, their music, varying between echo drenched atmospherics and more powerful passages featuring punchy, often staccato riffing. The saxophonist often favoured a pecking, vocalised sound that interacted well with Wynter’s shadowy chords. 

As at The Vortex the trio were given an excellent reception by a knowledgeable Cheltenham crowd. The group’s youthful energy and electronic trappings have given them considerable street cred and they have proved themselves capable of appealing to younger audiences including adventurous rock listeners. The crowd at The Vortex largely fell into that category, making me feel rather ancient, yet Roller Trio have a jazz core that helps to keep old codgers like me onside. The trio have built brilliantly on their Mercury success with a string of superb live appearances. The acid test will be if they can follow it up with that “difficult second album”.

Polar Bear meanwhile are contemplating the making of their fifth album. The nucleus of the group has been there since its inception, drummer and composer Seb Rochford leading the twin tenor saxes of Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart plus the mighty double bass of Tom Herbert. Electronics artist and occasional guitarist Leafcutter John joined for the second album, the Mercury nominated “Held On The Tips Of Fingers” and has remained ever since, a wild card who has had a surprisingly significant influence on the band’s sound.

Polar Bear are Cheltenham veterans and I’ve seen them many times, both here and elsewhere, over the years. Each show has been subtly different and it’s been fascinating to follow the group’s evolution over the past few years, today’s show seemed to signify yet another subtle change in direction.

The Polar Bear sound with it’s distinctive two tenor front line is instantly recognisable but Rochford’s compositional genius continually mutates it into new shapes. Today’s set featured all new material, in archetypal Seb style he didn’t have titles for any of them and presented them as a series of three fairly lengthy segues. The mood was often uncharacteristically dark, similar to that sometimes encountered on the group’s eponymous third album.

The first sequence was anchored by Herbert’s bass, the anchor of the band whether played with or without the bow and Herbert moved between both styles here. His grainy arco sound was augmented by the crackles and textures of Leafcutter’s electronica as the two tenors sketched tantalising melody lines, intertwining, handing over the lead, occasionally doubling up and very intermittently producing something akin to a conventional jazz solo. Rochford seemed to add commentary to the actions of his colleagues rather than positively leading from the back as he has sometimes in the past. This was more experimental and textural than much of Polar Bear’s previous output with Leafcutter abandoning his guitar to concentrate on his laptop and other devices. Fortunately he’s finally ditched the pink balloon trick, a novelty that featured in the band’s sets for just a bit too long.

(An aside- I’d been tempted to go to Leafcutter’s talk explaining something about his techniques which I’m sure would have been fascinating. It clashed with the Festival Showcase gig and in the end I opted to watch music being played rather than somebody talking about it. Tough decision but in the end I think I made the right call. )

The break between the first and second sequences featured the crying of a child in the audience. “We didn’t mean to scare you” apologised Rochford before entering into friendly dialogue with the parent. There’s something childlike and other worldly about Rochford and it all just seemed very appropriate.

The second segue involved softer textures and a greater number of solo features rather then the electronica enhanced interlocking patters of the first sequence. Solos came from Herbert and Lockheart with the more garrulous Wareham later changing the mood direction of the music.

Wareham was also in impassioned form on the concluding segment which incorporated powerful drum and bass grooves and ended in a something of a free-form freakout. Sorry if this all appears a bit vague but this was music that drew you into its unique sound world and somehow defied conventional note taking. Much of Roller Trio’s music has the same effect albeit in a subtly different way.

So Polar Bear still look good, as engagingly off beat as ever and still breaking fresh ground. They’re still setting the benchmark for the likes of Roller Trio to follow and today’s show represented a tantalising glimpse of that forthcoming fifth album. By the time it appears Rochford will no doubt have refined (and hopefully named the tunes) and it may all sound very different to today. Thus today was a snapshot of music that may never be performed in quite the same way again, and thereby lies the appeal of this music that we call jazz.

Ian’s star rating; 4 Stars each

OVERVIEW

When the festival brochure first dropped through my letterbox I was initially a little underwhelmed, a lot of familiar names with some of these not exactly fitting my definition of jazz. But as it turned out the festival was an artistic, and probably financial, triumph. With the exception of the last two shows at the PAC on Sunday night every event I went to was well attended and some of the performances were terrific with the British performers in particular raising their game for the occasion. Troykestra, GoGo Penguin, Sons Of Kemet and Reuben James all played out of their skins and exceeded my expectations. “Exceeding expectations”  could also be said of Gabby Young, Fresh Dixie Project and George Montague who were all enjoyable and impressed in a less obviously “jazz” way.  The Rollers and Polars double bill was as good as expected and rounded off the festival in style.

Of the international brigade Marius Neset’s quartet and the Mike Gibbs Ensemble produced exemplary performances, both groups featuring British players in their ranks. The Anglo French quartet Barbacana intrigued and often delighted but the big name Americans Dave Douglas, Gary Burton and Ravi Coltrane all disappointed slightly, their impact perhaps dissipated by the vaguely antiseptic atmosphere of the Jazz Arena. My favourite venue remained the intimate Parabola Arts Centre, a great place to see and hear music with good sight lines and acoustics. Here Jason Adasiewicz’s Sun Rooms Trio from Chicago produced the best festival performance by a US group and became my discovery of the festival. That performance has since been broadcast on Radio 3 and sounded just as good the second time around.

This year the festival was blessed with reasonably good weather with the Monday particularly pleasant and the organisers were rewarded with large crowds in Montpellier Gardens for the free events and there was a genuine festival atmosphere and a larger selection of trade and food stalls.

All in all an excellent festival, I have high hopes for continued success in 2014. 

Overall Festival Rating; 4 Stars  

         

blog comments powered by Disqus