Tonight’s visit by pianist Gwilym Simcock marked his third appearance at The Edge. He first came with his previous trio of Phil Donkin on bass and Martin France on drums in December 2007. Last year he was a member of saxophonist Tim Garland’s Lighthouse Trio together with percussionist Asaf Sirkis. Both these shows were excellent and both are reviewed elsewhere on this site.

It’s a sign that Simcock’s star is still in the ascendancy that tonight he totally sold out the larger of The Edge’s two performance spaces. His last visit as leader saw him playing in the admittedly rather packed smaller hall. Simcock was here to promote his exceptional new double CD on the Basho label “Blues Vignette”, a recording you can also read about elsewhere on this site. The album is a wholly successful synthesis of Simcock’s jazz and classical backgrounds and consists of one disc of solo piano works plus a concerto for cello and piano and another of jazz trio performances from the line up we saw tonight.

Joining Simcock were the extraordinary Russian born double bassist Yuri Goloubev and the brilliant young drummer James Maddren. Like Simcock Goloubev has a classical background having spent several years as principal bassist with the Moscow Soloists Orchestra. Now based in Milan he now works more frequently in a jazz context and released the album “Metafore Semplici” in 2009, a work this site will be taking a look at shortly.

Only in his early twenties Maddren is already an astonishingly mature performer. A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music I first saw him around three years ago as a member of a quintet led by pianist Andrea Vicari. I was impressed then but tonight it became clear that Maddren has come on by leaps and bounds in the intervening years. Now one of the UK’s most in demand young percussionists he is also a member of the much acclaimed Kit Downes Trio.

The trio opened with Simcock’s tune “Longing To Be”, the centrepiece of the trio half of the new album. Simcock demonstrated his classical leanings on the lengthy solo piano introduction. After attending a couple of trio gigs lately (John Turville Trio, Trichotomy) where the pianists were forced to deploy electric keyboards it was good to hear Simcock on The Edge’s splendid Bechstein grand. The sound was excellent all evening and Simcock’s playing was marked by it’s crystalline quality. In time Simcock was joined by Goloubev’s cello like arco bass. The Russian is a master with the bow and brings a real singing quality to his remarkable playing. He’s equally effective when playing pizzicato in the conventional jazz manner and switched tastefully between both modes of playing throughout the course of the evening. Maddren meanwhile supplied colour and texture through the use of soft head mallets, hand drumming and eventually conventional sticks. He has a remarkable ear for detail, is always listening and responsive and never resorts to the obvious rhythms. Essentially this was a lengthy piece of chamber jazz with each member of the trio interacting with the others. Solos came from Goloubev and Simcock and although this was not soloing in the usual jazz sense both musicians impressed with their invention and dexterity. Goloubev’s bowed bass provided a lyrical coda to an impressive opener.

“New In Town” represented a new, as yet unrecorded Simcock composition. A similarly quiet chamber jazz beginning led to a fine pizzicato solo by Goloubev, the bassist shadowed by Maddren’s delicate but impressive cymbal work the young drummer showing admirable touch, taste and control throughout the evening. Goloubev then took up the bow for a section that mixed passages of his rich, but surprisingly nimble arco bass with more percussive, grooving sections featuring Simcock’s piano. The leader then “took it away” with his most exuberant solo of the night thus far. When I talked to Simcock later he spoke of the importance of pacing not only individual tunes but also sets themselves. He was clearly doing that here, having begun in chamber jazz mode but slowly, subtly moving to something more swinging.

This transformation became complete with the closing number of the first set. Simcock’s “Spring Step” first appeared on the 2007 Basho album “Here To There” by the drummerless trio Neon led by saxophonist Stan Sulzmann and featuring Simcock and vibraphonist Jim Hart. Simcock played an important rhythmic role on that album and tonight’s performance of the tune was exuberant and playful and palpably raised the energy levels. Goloubev’s astonishing pizzicato bass solo featured some amazing finger work up around the bridge of the instrument. Simcock reached into the piano to dampen the strings as the trio played their most full on music thus far. Maddren’s drum feature was an astonishing blend of sticks and skins, cymbals and rims but still retained some kind of melodic structure. The audience went into the break in buoyant mood vindicating Simcock’s “pacing” as the set moved from the quietness of the solo piano opening of “Longing To Be” to the drum climax of “Spring Step”.

Simcock repeated the method with his second set which began with the solo plucked bass opening of “Plainsong” another new Simcock tune. The piece progressed through a classically influenced Simcock solo with delicately sketched right hand patterns before a strong left hand groove provided the link into George Gershwin’s jazz standard “Nice Work If You Can Get It”, a tune featured on “Blues Vignette.” Although more conventionally swinging this was still an imaginative and probing interpretation climaxing in another wonderful Maddren drum feature, the percussionist constructing his   colourfully accented solo over Simcock’s insistent vamping of the “won’t you tell me how” line in the lyrics.

Arthur Hamilton’s “Cry Me A River” is another standard that appears on “Blues Vignette.” Simcock commenced with a solo piano intro full of brooding left hand figures and intense classical flourishes. The melody was only introduced when Goloubev and Maddren, the latter using brushes, entered the proceedings. Lyricism and intimacy were the aims here, successfully recognised in the beautifully articulate solos of Goloubev and Simcock.

From Simcock’s previous release “Perception” came the Latin flavoured “A Typical Affair”, the album’s opening track. Introduced by Goloubev’s bass Simcock’s infectious piano riff soon took over with the pianist again reaching into the piano to dampen the strings and using the body of the instrument as additional percussion,locking into the grooves generated by bass and drums. This little bit of showmanship was all part of Simcock’s “pacing” process and was the precursor to a dazzling, tumbling piano that was followed by equally brilliant features for bass and drums, the previously oh so sensitive Maddren now slamming out patterns akin to rock rhythms. Needless to say the capacity audience loved it and called the trio back for a deserved encore.

Simcock chose to lower the temperature a little and the trio finished with the standard “How Deep Is The Ocean”, a number that has been in Simcock’s repertoire for some time, indeed he played it here with the Donkin/France line up a couple of years ago. As on the previous occasion the soloing was exuberant with features for bass, piano and drums. The Edge crowd went home happy and centre manager Alison Vermee could at last relax safe in the knowledge of yet another triumph.

There were the odd moments when things were in danger of becoming becalmed and arguably over classical but Simcock’s astute structuring of the show meant that nobody left disappointed. The playing of both Goloubev and especially Maddren was a revelation. The UK jazz scene is going to hear a lot more from this highly talented and remarkably mature young drummer. We’ll hear a lot more from Simcock too, he just goes from strength to strength and remains pleasantly unaffected
by all his success.

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