Photograph of Marco Mezquida by Tim Dickeson

SATURDAY AT CHELTENHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL. 03/05/2025

BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE and SIENA and HAMBURG JAZZ EXCHANGE, PARABOLA ARTS CENTRE

The long running annual ‘Jazz Exchange’ event has become a popular and successful part of the CJF calendar, almost an institution one might say. Showcasing the talents of students on the Jazz Course at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire alongside their counterparts from various equivalent European institutions it has become a tradition for the ‘Jazz Exchange’ to open the Saturday programme at the Parabola Arts Centre.

For many years the visitors were from Trondheim in Norway but more recent Exchanges have featured students from Paris and from the Siena Jazz-Accademia Nazionale del Jazz in Italy. This year’s event featured students from Siena and from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hamburg, Germany.                                        
   As is now traditional at this event three different ensembles, in this case all quintets, known simply as Groups One, Two and Three, each presented a short programme of music. This year the performances were slightly longer, each lasting for around half an hour rather than the previous fifteen to twenty minutes.

Each ensemble was international but since the advent of Brexit travel to the UK has become more difficult and there is now a preponderance of RBC students. In pre-Brexit days the split was far more even.

GROUP 1

Piano: Joe Noble – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Bass: Harvey Lees – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Drums: Tom Phillips – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Tenor Sax: Leonardo Odierna - Siena Jazz-Accademia Nazionale del Jazz
Trumpet: Max Mikardo-Greaves – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
 
The first ensemble to take to the stage performed a series of tunes by celebrated American musician / composers that have become contemporary jazz standards,

The sound of Harvey Lees’ double bass introduced “Fantasy in D”, a composition by pianist and composer Cedar Walton. Piano and drums were added before the horns of Mikardo-Greaves and Odierna combined to state the main melodic theme. Fluent individual solos followed from both Mikardo-Greaves and Odierna in an arrangement inspired by a recorded version of the tune featuring trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.

The quintet launched straight into the theme of “Pedro’s Time”, a tune by trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Mikardo-Greaves, who acted as the quintet’s spokesman, took the first solo, followed by Noble at the piano and Lees on double bass.

“Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” by saxophonist Wayne Shorter built from a unison theme statement by the horns to embrace individual solos from piano, tenor sax and trumpet.

A passage of unaccompanied piano from Noble introduced “Jacob’s Ladder”, a composition by trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Featuring Phillips on brushed drums this was the gentlest piece thus far, with the horns adopting a softer, warmer tone on the unison theme statement. The solos from Odierna, originally from Naples, on tenor sax and Lees on double bass were melodic and lyrical.

The quintet rounded things off in more energetic fashion with the appropriately titled “Upswing”, a composition by trumpeter Tom Harrell. The preponderance of tunes composed by trumpeters during this set suggested that Mikardo-Greaves was effectively the group leader, but Odierna proved to be at least his equal as an instrumental soloist. The pair shared soloing duties here and there were also features for Noble, Lees and Phillips, the young drummer enjoying the chance to finish with a flourish.

This was a well played, if rather conservative, set, that was very well received by a packed house at the PAC. Despite the early start (11.00 am, if you please) the Jazz Exchange event is one of the most popular on the Festival calendar, and rightly so. This is a chance to see some quality jazz for a very reasonable price, while supporting the jazz stars of tomorrow.

GROUP 2

Guitar: Francesco Faro - Siena Jazz-Accademia Nazionale del Jazz
Bass: Kyle Welch – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Drums: Josh Rose – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Alto Sax: Nathaniel Evans – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire 
Trombone: Ben Matthis Wroblewski - Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg    

This was my favourite group of the three, largely because they took a far more adventurous approach by presenting a programme of all original material composed by various members of the quintet.

It wasn’t easy to hear the tune titles, often because they were drowned out by rapturous audience applause, so please bear with me.

The first section featured a segue of tunes by Evans and Wroblewski, the first featuring bustling rhythms and the feisty interplay of trombone and alto sax on the intro. Evans took the first solo on wailing alto, his tone sharp and incisive. Rose also came to the fore early on as this first segment concluded with a powerful drum feature.
A passage of unaccompanied guitar from Faro, who had previously comped admirably, seemed to form the bridge into the second half of the segue. He was subsequently joined by Wroblewski’s sonorous trombone melodies. Bass and drums were then added before the two horns combined to state the main melodic theme, this followed by a double bass solo from Welch.  The piece resolved itself with further spirited interplay between alto and trombone. An impressive start.

A waltz written by guitarist Faro featured the composer as a soloist but was again also notable for the interplay between Evans and Wroblewski, the harder edged tone of the alto contrasting well with the more rounded sound of the trombone, with Wroblewski also a featured soloist.

I did manage to pick up the title of “Options”, a tune written by bassist Kyle Welch that featured Wroblewski on the opening theme and initial solo. He was followed by Evans, with both horns taking a more thoughtful and lyrical approach than previously. It was Faro’s guitar that added a greater sense of urgency before Wroblewski and Evans returned as further horn interplay rounded things off.

I believe the final tune was written by Evans. Introduced by bass and drums this was a fascinating piece with a tricky ‘head’ that seemed to combine various elements of trad jazz, bebop and even Ornette Coleman! Solos came from alto sax, trombone and guitar as this energetic young quintet signed off in style.

The writing of the various band members was intelligent and multi-faceted and the playing was skilled, adventurous and full of verve. They seemed to be having tremendous fun up on stage, relishing the risks and challenges of playing each others’ compositions. It must be remembered that all of these ensembles represent ‘one off’ collaborations and that any rehearsal time would be severely limited.

GROUP 3

Piano: Nick Manz – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Bass: Federico Giolito - Siena Jazz-Accademia Nazionale del Jazz 
Drums: Dom Holyoake – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Sax: Hedwig Janko - Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg
Vocals: Sophie Gilbert – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
 

The final quintet also took the decision to perform an all original programme. Their approach was more studied and less free-wheeling than that of Group Two, perhaps the consequence of having a vocalist in the line up.

Again catching tune titles was tricky, but I believe the first sequence was a segue of pieces written by Janko and Giolito. The opening section was led by the combination of Janko’s alto sax and Gilbert’s wordless, Norma Winstone like vocals. A melodic double bass solo from Giolito was followed by an alto sax solo from Janko, her tone softer and less confrontational than that of Evans, a fascinating contrast.
A passage of arpeggiated, unaccompanied piano from Manz appeared to form the bridge into the next piece, which featured Gilbert’s singing of the English language lyrics allied to the sound of double bass and brushed drums. Janko and Manz were the featured instrumental soloists.

The energy levels increased with the fast moving “Squariel”, a piece written by drummer Dom Holyoake. Featuring dizzying unison alto sax and wordless vocal lines the performance included an exceptional piano solo from Manz, a former finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition. Janko was also featured as a soloist and the piece closed out with more of those alto sax and vocal exchanges.

The set concluded with Manz’s “Three Short Chorales”, introduced by an extended passage of unaccompanied piano from the composer. Also featuring wordless vocals and brushed drums this piece sounded rather more academic and classically informed, as its title might suggest. Janko was the featured instrumentalist, soloing melodically above a loosely structured underpinning featuring the glacial sounds of Manz’s piano. This was the most demanding piece of the set and might have been better scheduled in the middle, with the more upbeat “Squariel” rounding things off. Full marks for adventure, nevertheless.

Once again the Jazz Exchange proved to be a hugely enjoyable event. The quality of these young musicians never ceases to amaze me and as Peter Slavid, writing for UK Jazz News stated “any of these bands would be welcome as they stand at jazz clubs up and down the country”.

That’s a comment I can very much endorse. David Logan of the Corn Exchange Club in Ross-on-Wye regularly invites bands featuring RCB students and recent graduates to play at the Club and all have performed excellently and been very well received. Several of these performances have been reviewed elsewhere on the Jazzmann web pages.

The Jazz Exchange event always serves as a very welcome reminder that the future of jazz in the UK, and Europe as a whole, is in good hands. Congratulations to all of the students who played so well today and to Jeremy Price, head of the jazz faculty at RBC, who was present in the front row of the audience.

BILLY COBHAM, CHELTENHAM TOWN HALL

Billy Cobham – drums, Gary Husband – piano, keyboards, Rocco Zifarelli – guitar, Bjorn Arko – tenor sax, EWI,  Antonio Baldini – trumpet, Andrea Andreoli – trombone, Victor Cisternas – electric bass

Eighty year old drum legend Billy Cobham brought his Time Machine band to CJF as part of a wider European tour. Born in Panama Cobham moved to the US at an early age and as a technically gifted and often flamboyant drummer made a name for himself first with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with guitarist John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Cobham’s solo career took off with the release of the acclaimed fusion album “Spectrum”(1973), still the source of much of his live set. In the seventies a series of other sci-fi themed albums in the fusion vein followed, including “Crosswinds” and “Total Eclipse” (both 1974).

In 2007 I enjoyed a live performance by Cobham and his seven piece Latin band Asere at the Wyeside Arts centre in Builth Wells, but he remains best known as a powerhouse fusion drummer and the opportunity of seeing him perform in this context, even at this late stage in his career, was one not to be missed.

At the age of eighty Cobham has become increasingly frail and had to be helped on to the stage and on to the drum riser by an assistant – but his feet and legs functioned just fine once he was sat behind his two bass drums. Make no mistake Cobham can still play and he does so with a frankly astonishing combination of power, accuracy and precision. Added to that a remarkable stamina, for a drummer there’s no one else to do the heavy lifting and no sneaking off stage while somebody else takes a solo.

Instead Cobham was at the heart of the music throughout, albeit with the assistance of a crack band of superbly accomplished musicians, a tightly honed unit that combined individual flair with collective discipline. Cobham and the Time Machine is some band.

Once again not all tune titles were announced but I think they started with the title track from “Total Eclipse”, with a reeds and brass fanfare ushering in a slapped electric bass groove. From behind his monster drum kit Cobham helped fuel the first solo of the night from Husband on keyboards. A bandleader in his own right the Yorkshire born Husband is also a phenomenally gifted drummer himself, a true multi-instrumentalist who is equally accomplished on drums and keys. Husband was followed by a hard hitting tenor sax solo from Arko and an exciting rock influenced guitar excursion from Zifarelli. What a terrific start.

I think the next piece was a cut from the 1979 album “BC” that Cobham recorded with producer Wayne Henderson. The recording sounds rather dated now but not today’s performance with its agile electric bass soloing and the exciting round of trades as the three horns vied with each other in terms of excellence, with Baldini’s high register trumpet a particularly distinctive component. Zifarelli cut loose on guitar once more before the piece closed with Cobham’s first drum feature. The audience, which doubtless included a number of drummers, was delighted.

The next item featured the spacey sounds of keyboards and EWI, with Baldini switching to flugelhorn. The featured soloists were Andreoli on trombone, Husband on synthesiser and Zifarelli with a truly stratospheric guitar feature.

There were more spacey sci-fi sounds in the next section, a gentler episode that also featured the sounds of acoustic piano and flugelhorn, with Baldini the featured soloist. Again there seemed to be a segue into another piece as the pace of the music increased with Cobham laying down a solid backbeat behind Zifarelli’s soaring and searing guitar. Meanwhile the three horns combined with the power of a mini big band, before Arko’s tenor made a break for freedom.

The band left the stage leaving Cobham to deliver a majestic solo drum feature that commenced with the sound of slowly rolling toms and progressed via series of snare tattoos to full on circumnavigations of the huge kit, including the pummelling of those two bass drums.
After around six minutes the other members of Time Machine reassumed their positions and crashed back in with a bang, the collective now hitting harder than ever on a version of “Stratus”, an audience favourite from the “Spectrum” album. Cisternas’ bass underpinned a fiery guitar and
keyboard dialogue, this followed by a Husband solo that evolved into a dialogue with leader Cobham. This was followed by raunchy solos from Arko on tenor and Zifarelli on guitar.

Two more crowd favourites followed, “Tinseltown” from the 1986 Cobham album “Power Play”, the audience clapping along to the rumble of Cisternas’ bass and Cobham’s solid backbeat. Punchy horn choruses paved the way for a tenor sax solo from Arko that evolved into a blazing round of exchanges between the electrically hooked horns.

To close another popular item from the “Spectrum” recording, “Red Baron” with solos from Husband on keyboards, Cisternas on electric bass and Zifarelli on guitar. If my notes on this particular piece are a bit sketchy it’s because that by now I was totally immersed in the music.

I have to say that this gig represented one of the highlights of the entire Festival. Whilst I’d enjoyed Cobham’s early fusion albums, and particularly “Spectrum”, I didn’t much care for his later slide into funk and disco and really wasn’t sure quite to expect from this show, especially from an eighty year old.

Heavily centred on bona fide fusion classics it turned out to be quite brilliant. Despite his obvious frailties Cobham’s flame remains undimmed and once behind the kit his playing is as dynamic as ever. The presence of a superb band also helped, as did the support of the enthusiastic audience. In addition the sound was pretty decent too, not always the case in this venue, despite Cobham’s reference to the “wonderful echo” in the room.

It’s always nice when things turn out to be far better than you’d hoped. Great stuff, Billy!

I know that Billy has a very loyal following so if any Cobham fans out there can supply me with a fully detailed set list I’d be delighted to hear from you.

BROWN PENNY, PARABOLA ARTS CENTRE

Cassie Kinoshi – alto sax, vocals, electronics, Tyrone Isaac-Stewart – alto sax, vocals, David Mrakpor – vibraphone,  Tjoe Man Cheung – guitars, Isobella Burnham – electric bass, vocals, Ayo Salawu – drums

Brown Penny is a new project led by alto saxophonist, composer and vocalist Cassie Kinoshi, a founder member of Kokoroko, who had performed at the Festival the previous evening at Cheltenham Town hall.

Sice leaving Kokoroko Kinoshi has fronted her own critically acclaimed, Mercury nominated seed ensemble and now Brown Penny, the new sextet having released its debut EP in September 2024.

Featuring some of the rising stars of the still burgeoning London jazz scene Brown Penny is fronted by the twin alto saxes of Kinoshi and Tyrone Isaac-Stewart, an unusual combination previously observed in Led Bib, although Brown Penny sound very different to Mark Holub’s quintet.

More jazz orientated than the current edition of Kokoroko the music of Brown Penny is primarily instrumental, but also features the singing of Kinoshi, Isaac-Stewart and Burnham and also draws on rock, soul and electronic music influences. There’s a distinct indie rock aesthetic about a band that is capable of appealing to a broad musical demographic, but which retains jazz at the heart of its music. There was more than enough jazz content here to allay the carping of possible detractors.

The afternoon’s performance began with “Descent”,  a Kinoshi composition centred around Cheung’s circling guitar riff and featuring the twin alto sax melody lines of Kinoshi and Isaac-Stewart, with Kinoshi taking the first solo of the set. She was followed by Cheung, whose searing, rock influenced guitar pyrotechnics were fuelled by the dynamic drumming of Salawu, who is also the drummer in the current Kokoroko line up.

Also by Kinoshi “Supermoon”, named for the celestial / meteorological phenomenon, featured surging sax melodies, another nagging guitar motif and the composer’s subtle use of electronics. Isaac-Stewart, who had impressed at the 2022 CJF as part of drummer Moses Boyd’s band, took the first solo, his alto tone bright and incisive.

If there had been a reservation thus far it was that Mrakpor’s vibes had been rather too low in the mix but now a quieter passage featuring the sounds of vibes, guitar and electronics led into “Hairband”, a piece that was very much a feature for the mallet man. For guest contributor Colin May, who had seen Brown Penny at the Brick Lane Jazz Festival in London the previous weekend Mrakpor had rather stolen the show. He also seized the moment here, with both the audience and his fellow band members transfixed by the sight of his four mallets dancing lightly over the bars during the course of two separate solos punctuated by Kinoshi’s sax melodies. As the momentum gathered the music became more anthemic, again powered by Salawu’s forceful drumming.

This uninterrupted sequence of tunes had lasted around half an hour and had held the audience spellbound. Kinoshi now announced that following these three originals the next tune would be a cover, “Until”, a composition by the American alto saxophonist Braxton Cook, a musician whose playing I have enjoyed when seeing him with bands led by trumpeters Marquis Hill and Christian Scott. Also the leader of his own projects Cook is clearly something of an alto sax hero for Kinoshi and Isaac-Stewart. His tune was powered by Burnham’s propulsive electric bass groove, Salawu’s solid drumming and Cheung’s guitar riffing, although the latter should really have been more prominent in the sound mix, especially during the course of another rock influenced guitar solo that in an ideal world would have sounded even heavier. Burnham and Salawu then rounded things off with an electric bass and drum workout.

There were more propulsive grooves on Isaac-Stewart’s composition “Lipstick”, which also included guitar and drum features alongside the playing of Kinoshi and Isaac-Stewart.

The song “Twice as Good” featured the unison lead vocals of Kinoshi and Isaac-Stewart, with Kinoshi in particular impressing as an accomplished singer, her vocal skills presumably honed during her time with Kokoroko. This piece also included sax solos from both the vocalists, plus a further feature from the irrepressible Salawu.

Burnham is a solo artist in her own right and her solo show at the recent Brick Lane Jazz Festival was reviewed by guest contributor Dave Fuller as part of his Festival coverage.  I also saw something of her leading her own sextet at a JazzNewBlood showcase at the Iklectik Artslab venue in Waterloo during the 2019 EFG London Jazz Festival. Today Burnham took the lead vocal on the song “Nowadays”, with Kinoshi and Isaac-Stewart adding vocal harmonies. Mrakpor also re-emerged as the featured instrumental soloist.

The set concluded with “we can be friends though”, a tune featuring a rolling groove and an infectious melodic hook, the buoyant sax melodies leading to an exciting alto sax solo from Kinoshi, arguably her best of the set. Burnham was also featured on electric bass and Mrakpor on vibes.

Despite the quibbles about the vibes, and sometimes the guitar, being too low in the mix this was a thoroughly enjoyable performance from Brown Penny that combined some excellent playing and singing with intelligent writing and which embraced a number of jazz and other musical styles. This was bright, accessible music with a high jazz content that worked just fine at the all seated PAC venue but it would also comfortably migrate to a more informal venue with a younger audience. This was a very contemporary brand of jazz that sounded fresh, invigorating and exciting. I predict a bright future for Brown Penny as the band continues to become better known.

MARCO MEZQUIDA ‘TORNADO’ TRIO, PARABOLA ARTS CENTRE

Marco Mezquida – piano, percussion, Masa Kamaguchi – double bass, Ramon Prats – drums, percussion

Every jazz festival throws up an exciting new discovery, and this year it was this trio led by the Spanish pianist and composer Marco Mezquida. Born in Menorca and now based in Barcelona the thirty seven year old is a prolific musician and composer and has already released thirty albums as a co-leader or co-leader and appears as a sideman on nearly seventy more. He’s performed all over the world and although currently little known in the UK that looks set to change following his trio’s dazzling performance at Cheltenham, my personal “Gig of the Festival”, and that of many others I suspect. To learn more about the busy Mezquida’s numerous musical activities please visit his website; http://www.marcomezquida.com

I’d heard great things about Mezquida before this gig but had never seen or heard him play. His ‘Tornado’ trio takes its name from the title of the album that it recorded in 2023 and is an international line up featuring drummer Ramon Prats and the Japanese bassist Masa Kamaguchi, both of whom are also based in Barcelona.

Today’s performance was introduced by Alexandra Carr, the curator of the programme at the PAC, “where the real jazz happens”, as she kept reminding us. Carr had been lucky enough to witness the Tornado trio perform at the San Sebastian Jazz Festival and just knew that she had to invite them to Cheltenham. What an inspired decision that turned out to be.

Right from the start it was obvious that this was not going to be a conventional piano trio performance as Mezquida reached into the innards of the piano, plucking and strumming the strings as Prats added mallet rumbles and cymbal shimmers. Mezquida is also a percussionist and was simultaneously featured playing what has been described as a  “small finger cymbal tree”, as depicted in Tim Dickeson’s accompanying image.

Drummer Prats also deployed a range of small cymbals and sundry other percussion devices in a manner that sometimes reminded me of the British free jazz drummer Mark Sanders. When Mezquida finally sat down at the keyboard to play in a more conventional manner it quickly became apparent that he was a pianist with a formidable technique, a technique more than capable of keeping pace with his fervid imagination. As the music gathered in intensity it quickly became apparent that the “Tornado” name was very appropriate as the members of the trio blew up a storm that was more than capable of blowing the minds of its transfixed audience.

At one juncture Mezquida swarmed all over the keyboard, the precise but furious percussiveness of his playing inviting comparisons with the likes of Cecil Taylor, Keith Tippett and Myra Melford.

At times darting melodic motifs would emerge, at others Mezquida’s piano soloing would become slightly more conventional and there was also a gentler, more reflective section that brought Kamaguchi’s double bass briefly to the fore.

But this was music that never stood still for long as it ebbed and flowed with tantalising fragments of melody swimming in and out of focus, alternating with turbulent Taylor-esque passages. An unbroken twenty five minute opening section concluded with vaulting piano melodies underpinned by hard driving rhythms. Prats was nearly as flamboyant a performer as the leader and the two were constantly bouncing ideas off each other, with the piano and drum kit set up facing each other. Kamaguchi played the role of anchor and referee, but his own playing was also highly physical, it had to be to keep pace with these two!

The second section began with the sound of dampened piano strings, a technique that allowed Mezquida to create percussive arpeggios that nodded to the influence of minimalism, these augmented by Kamaguchi’s use of the body of the bass as auxiliary percussion and the clatter of Prats’ sticks on rims. Kamaguchi actually took the lead when he began to strum the bass melodically, accompanied by the sounds of piano innards and Prats’ hand drumming. Tellingly the bassist seemed to be the only musician to be reading sheet music. Make of that what you will, but to me it suggests that the trio is a finely honed unit with an instinctive rapport that places a strong emphasis on the art of improvisation.

Again darting melodies emerged that formed the basis for a further dialogue between Mezquida and Prats, the pianist then soloing in more conventional fashion, accompanied by double bass and brushed drums, but with another thunderous Taylor like episode just around the corner.

Mezquida then returned to the technique of string dampening during a passage featuring the interlocking rhythms of piano, bass and drums, culminating in an extended drum feature from the excellent Prats.

This second fifteen minute sequence continued with a Mezquida piano solo supported by almost conventional swing rhythms, and finally a short passage of unaccompanied piano.

At last Mezquida spoke to the audience, in more than passable English, and we learned that what we had heard was pretty much a straight through run through the album up to this point incorporating the tracks “Tornado”, Bon ball tenim”, “Fellini” and Typhoon”. He spoke of the “Tornado” title as referencing both meteorological and “emotional” tornados and one could hear this very clearly in the music. Of the pieces we had heard thus far all were written by Mezquida except “Typhoon”, written by Prats, and “Bon ball tenim”, a joint composition by Prats and Mezquida.

The music continued with “Beibita”, another track from the album, which was ushered in by a passage of unaccompanied double bass from Kamaguchi, subsequently joined in duet by Mezquida on that cymbal tree. The leader was also featured playing other small percussive items (tambourine, shakers) before putting these down and returning to the interior of the piano. When he eventually returned to the keyboard his solo was augmented by the kind of flourishes that suggested a classically honed piano technique. Though quite what the classical establishment would make of another bout on interior strumming who knows?  Or how about the passage featuring Mezquida playing the piano keyboard and the cymbal tree simultaneously.

For all the sound and fury this was often a charming performance as Mezquida’s playing of a melody on the piano strings demonstrated, this followed by a lyrical solo at the keyboard, accompanied by double bass and brushed drums. This section, still part of “Beibita”, featured Kamaguchi’s only genuine solo of the night, his melodic double bass playing accompanied by gentle piano chording and delicate mallet rumbles. A further solo from Mezquida offered another moment of ECM style lyricism as this twenty minute version of a three and a half minute album track drew to a close.

The trio ended their performance with a joyous and sprightly rendition of the Mezquida composition “First Dance” that included more simultaneous piano and percussion from the leader and Kamaguchi’s use of the body of the bass. I’m conscious that I may have overdone the Cecil Taylor comparisons, this was emphatically not a free jazz performance despite the stretching out of the recorded versions of these pieces, but those thunderous moments at the height of the storm were both exhilarating and terrifying, and impossible to ignore. But there’s also Keith Jarrett in Mezquida’s sound, especially on this piece which was reminiscent of Jarrett’s ‘country blues’ tunes such as “The Windup”. There were also moments here when I was reminded of the music of the much missed E.S.T. But there was time for one more Taylor-esque free jazz eruption before a fade out featuring the sounds of dampened piano strings and the patter of Prats’ hand drumming. 

At the close the whole crowd rose to its feet as one, a spontaneous and genuine standing ovation, the first one of the whole weekend at the PAC despite the excellence of some of the other performances.

After the show business at the merch stall was understandably brisk and I treated myself to a signed copy of the “Tornado” album and it sounds just as exciting in the home listening environment and I could chart the progress of the live show as I wrote while listening to the recording. The performances on disc are more concise, but no less thrilling, and on record Mezquida further expands his sonic palette via the occasional use of Hammond and Farfisa organs.

As a dazed but delighted audience filed out one audience member was heard to exclaim “that’s the best piano trio performance I’ve ever seen!”, and it was hard to disagree with him. Mezquida’s playing was little short of astonishing and he clearly has the compositional imagination and acumen to match his peerless piano technique. Prats was also a busy, distinctive and imaginative performer behind the drum kit and a perfect foil for the leader, with the selfless Kamaguchi holding it all together from the bass, the holding midfielder behind the two dazzling front men.

The Tornado trio had absolutely blown us all away and Alex Carr’s decision to bring the trio to Cheltenham was totally vindicated. Mezquida’s first UK performance for eight years was a total triumph both for him and his trio and for Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Let’s hope that this show has placed Mezquida firmly in the consciousness of UK jazz audiences, and more importantly promoters, and that he will return to the UK again soon.

Gig of the Festival without a doubt, surpassing even Billy Cobham.

DANIEL CASIMIR BIG BAND

Daniel Casimir – double bass, electric bass
Binker Golding – conductor
Flo Redmond, Chelsea Carmichael – tenor saxophones
Donovan Haffner, Camilla George – alto saxophones
James Copus, Freddie Gavita, Sean Gibbs, Andy Davies – trumpets
Tom Dunnett, Kieran McLeod, Joe Bristow – trombones
Richard Foote – bass trombone
Joe Beckwith – piano
Jamie Murray – drums
Ria Moran – vocals

Saturday’s final performance at the PAC featured the sixteen piece Daniel Casimir Big Band, led by bassist and composer Daniel Casimir and directed by Binker Golding, himself a highly accomplished saxophonist and composer who had led his own quintet, featuring Casimir,  in a memorable performance at the 2023 Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

The band performed music from “Balance”, Casimir’s latest album and his third as a leader, which was released in July 2024. It followed “Escapee” (2017) and the excellent “Boxed In” (2021). The latter, which represented Casimir’s first large ensemble project, is reviewed here.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/daniel-casimir-boxed-in

Tonight’s show was Casimir’s first CJF appearance as a leader, but his relationship with the Festival goes back a long time as he acknowledged this by recalling that he had appeared here as a student musician back in 2009.

The performance commenced with “Music Not Numbers”, the opening track from the “Balance” album, the title a veiled swipe at Spotify and its ilk. Stirring horn charts added to dynamic drumming and the leader’s own electric bass grooves made for a rising start, with solos for alto sax (Haffner), trombone and trumpet. The band line up hadn’t been announced at this point so full details of the soloists are consequently vague.

Written specifically for the Festival “Don’t Be Afraid” saw Casimir moving to double bass on a piece notable for the exchanges between Haffner on alto sax and Redmond on tenor, followed by a further series of trades between trumpeters Davies and Gavita.

Vocalist Ria Moran joined the ensemble for “I’ll Take My Chances”, a song featuring Casimir’s music and her own lyrics, a song about regaining one’s self confidence after the breakdown of a relationship (“I’ll take my chances, I’m ready to land on my feet again”). With Casimir back on electric bass Moran’s soulful vocals were augmented by instrumental solos from Carmichael on tenor and Beckwith at the piano.

Casimir remained on electric bass for “Balance” itself, ushering in an instrumental composition that incorporated solos from Beckwith at the piano, Carmichael on tenor and lead trumpeter Copus. The leader was also featured himself with a liquid electric bass solo, accompanied by piano and bass only as the ensemble was temporarily pared down to a trio.

Casimir described the instrumental “Just A Little Bit” as “my love song”, but it turned out to be a surprisingly powerful piece of music with incisive solos from the impressive Haffner on alto sax, (I’m looking forward to seeing him leading his own quintet at Clun Valley Jazz in Bishop’s Castle later in the year), Copus on trumpet and Redmond on tenor sax, all of these fuelled by Murray’s dynamic drumming.

Moran returned for the song “You Know”, the closing track on the “Balance” album. Driven by the leader’s electric bass groove the piece also included instrumental features from George on alto sax, her only solo of the night, Redmond on tenor and Gavita on trumpet.

The leader acknowledged the sterling work undertaken by Golding, “my eyes and ears” as he introduced the final tune of the evening, the instrumental composition “In Search For Goldilocks”, which featured an extended unaccompanied double bass intro. This subsequently proved to be a dynamic and fast moving piece fuelled by rapid bass and drum grooves and featuring solos from Bristow on trombone and Davies on trumpet.

This was another excellent performance from a band featuring some of the UK jazz scenes premier instrumentalists, many of them bandleaders in their own right. This was a tight, well drilled ensemble that was admirably cohesive during the ensemble sections, but with soloists capable of making fluent and incisive solo statements whenever the opportunities to do so arose. I did however feel that the excellent Camilla George was rather underused.

Initially I was a little disappointed that the arrangements seemed to be relatively conventional, typical big band arrangements if you will, that lacked the scope and depth of those on “Boxed In”, which also featured strings and possessed an epic quality that led to me describing Casimir as “the UK’s answer to Kamasi Washington”. However after listening to the “Balance” album on Bandcamp ( a rather more acceptable source than Spotify) I note that Casimir deploys the services of the London Contemporary Orchestra and that the recording does possess something of the colour and scope of its predecessor. I guess that bringing a string section out on the road is probably unviable economically, hence the more conventional big band sound.

An excellent all round performance nevertheless from a band containing some of the UK’s brightest jazz talents.

 

 

 

 

 

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