Harry Diplock Trio, Kidderminster Jazz Club, St. Ambroses’s Parish Centre, Kidderminster, Worcs. 05/06/2026

Harry Diplock – lead guitar, Sol Grimshaw – rhythm guitar, Ben Love – double bass

Kidderminster Jazz Club’s final event of its successful 2025 /  26 season (gigs will recommence in September) saw a visit from the young London based guitarist and composer Harry Diplock and his trio.

As can be seen from the group’s instrumentation this is essentially a gypsy jazz ensemble, but one that places a very contemporary slant on the music, with Diplock writing a substantial chunk of the trio’s material. Both Diplock and Grimshaw play acoustic, French style, gypsy jazz guitars.

Devon born Diplock has released two albums to date. “Harry Diplock Trio & Friends”, recorded in 2023 features a core trio of Diplock, rhythm guitarist Remi Oswald and bassist Pete Thomas plus a series of illustrious guests, namely pianist Joe Webb, clarinettist Giacomo Smith, violinist Matt Holborn and guitarist Kourosh Kanani. The material is largely comprised of jazz standards but does include two Diplock originals plus an arrangement of “Erbarme Dich” from Bach’s “St. Matthew’s Passion”.

“Swifts”, released in May 2026 features Diplock’s current working trio with Sol Grimshaw on double bass and Isaac Burland on double bass. This recording places a greater emphasis on Diplock’s original writing and the album repertoire was at the core tonight’s performance.

In addition to leading his own trio Diplock is a founder member, with Matt Holborn, of the London Django Collective, of which Grimshaw is also a member. He also runs a regular monthly residency at the celebrated Green Note music venue in Camden.

Diplock is also an educator in the gypsy jazz style and also an instrument builder, playing tonight’s show on an instrument of his on construction.

This evening’s performance saw Ben Love, a graduate of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, depping for Burland. Love has played with the Diplock Trio before and seemed very much at home. He was also allocated a very generous amount of solo space, which he utilised superbly.

The performance commenced with the opening track of the “Swifts” album a composition by the late French guitarist Sylvain Luc (1965 – 2024) titled “Ameskeri”. The forcefully strummed rhythm guitar of Grimshaw helped to fuel the fluent and melodic soloing of both Diplock and Love.

Even more obviously from the gypsy jazz tradition was “New York City”, a blues written by Django Reinhardt, inevitably one of Diplock’s favourite guitarists. Grimshaw’s vigorous rhythmic chug again underpinned the solos Diplock and Love, but this time Grimshaw also enjoyed a brief, rapidly strummed solo break.

The trio’s version of the Leonard Bernstein composition “Some Other Time” was inspired by a Bill Evans recording and was introduced by Love’s melodic double bass. Diplock subsequently took over the melody, sharing the solos with Love on this sensitive ballad reading of the tune.

A passage of solo guitar from Diplock introduced a gypsy jazz arrangement of an Edith Piaf song with a title translating as “Under Paris Skies, this performance very much acting as a showcase for the talents of the leader.

The second Reinhardt composition of the set was “Vamp”, written shortly before Reinhardt’s death in 1953. Closer in style to American jazz this piece undermined its title with its languid pace and featured solos from Diplock and Love, plus a solo guitar cadenza from Diplock at the close.

Diplock’s other favourite guitarist is Pat Metheny and the original composition “Postman Pat” homaged both the man from Missouri and a certain fictitious postal delivery officer, presumably one of Harry’s childhood favourites. The tune’s breezy rhythms helped to fuel Diplock’s joyous and colourful guitar soloing.

The first set concluded with a second visit to the Swifts” album repertoire and the Diplock original “Mirage,  a composition based on the bolero form ushered in by the leader with a passage of unaccompanied guitar and subsequently featuring his playing against the sensitive rhythmic backdrop provided by Grimshaw and Love.

Set two kicked off with a second Metheny homage and an interesting arrangement of “James”, one of Metheny’s most frequently covered compositions. Initially ushered in by the twin guitars the performance incorporated solos from both Diplock and Love. The tune also appears on the “Swifts” album.

Also taken from the “Swifts” album and introduced by a passage of solo guitar from the leader “Viaggio” was written by the great French accordionist Richard Galliano, another of Diplock’s musical heroes. Diplock asked for a show of hands to check out how many audience members were familiar with Galliano and his music. I think I may have been the only one, having reviewed a couple of his albums way back in 2007. This piece featured a more obvious gypsy jazz sound than the Metheny tune with Grimshaw’s rapid rhythmic chug and Love’s muscular bas lines supporting Diplock’s virtuoso soloing.

Diplock described his original composition “Sanguine” as “being inspired by Django, but in a more modern style. First written for the London Django Collective this was a piece that combined contemporary sounding guitar riffing with a more obvious gypsy jazz style and with Diplock and Love the featured soloists.

A gypsy jazz style arrangement of the John Coltrane composition “Moment’s Notice” featured Diplock’s most virtuoso soloing of the set as he tackled the complexities of the piece.

Next we enjoyed the rarely heard “The Birds and The Bees”, written by the Hungarian born guitarist composer and educator Attila Zoller (1927- 98), one of Metheny’s former tutors. It’s a tune that used to be played by the first edition of Diplock’s trio and which has now been revived for this one. Solos here came from Diplock and Love.

The title track of the “Swifts” album was inspired by the birds of the same name swooping around Diplock’s north London neighbourhood. An evocative and engaging contemporary composition in a broadly gypsy jazz style this hugely enjoyable pice incorporated solos from Diplock and Love.

At the start of the show Diplock told us that although the trio’s music might be rooted in the gypsy jazz tradition they draw on musical influences from all over the world. This was epitomised by set closer “A Vida Tem Dessas Coisas”, a tune written by the Brazilian jazz mandolinist and composer Hamilton de Holanda, a big star in his home country and also in France, but still relatively little known in the UK despite having played London Jazz Festival. Holnda’s tune also concludes the “Swifts” album. Described by Diplock as “a shapeshifter of a tune” this lively piece provided a final opportunity for the leader to demonstrate his virtuosity.

The Diplock Trio’s contemporary take on the gypsy jazz tradition was very well received by the KJC audience and the encore was a delightfully lyrical and melodic interpretation of the jazz ballad “My Foolish Heart”, the second tune of the evening to be inspired by a Bill Evans recording. Topped and tailed by solo guitar episodes the performance also included a beautifully melodic bass solo from Love.

I was very impressed by my first sighting of the Harry Diplock Trio. In addition to being a superb guitar soloist Diplock is also an intelligent composer who takes a refreshingly contemporary approach to the gypsy jazz tradition. His choice of non original material is also pleasingly eclectic and wide ranging and avoids the usual gypsy jazz staples. 

The trio members all played well with Grimshaw playing the crucial rhythm guitar role to perfection and Love filling in brilliantly and delivering some terrific solos.

Both albums are recommended, the first benefits from the addition of its guests but it’s “Swifts”, heard in full tonight with the exception of just one track, that offers the best indication of where the Diplock Trio are currently at.

My thanks to Harry and Sol for speaking with me after the show and congratulations to Annette Gregory and Kidderminster Jazz Club for another successful season, even though I didn’t attend quite as many events as I would have liked.

For more on Harry Diplock please visit;
https://www.harrydiplock.co.uk/

 

 

 

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