by Ian Mann
March 15, 2026
/ LIVE
"The entire audience was hooked and they couldn’t get off the hook for another two hours". Guest contributor Mike Wright's first review in his 'A Day Out for Jazz' series.
The first in an occasional series from guest contributor Mike Wright, Chair of Shrewsbury Jazz Network.
Marius Neset Quartet
NQ JAZZ
The Yard
Manchester
02.03.2026
Marius Neset - tenor & soprano saxophones, Elliot Galvin - keyboards, Conor Chaplin - bass, Anton Eger - drums
A Day Out for Jazz #1
The premise of ‘A day out for Jazz’ is: travel by train, some good beer in convivial surroundings, some good food and to support the performance of contemporary Jazz. Maybe even the addition of the wonderful company of some like minded friends.
So, this was quite a start. The legendary Norwegian saxophonist and composer Marius Neset leading an explosive all-star quartet in what NQJAZZ (https://nqjazz.co.uk) described as a coup of a booking.
To begin at the beginning: train from Shrewsbury to Manchester Piccadilly in ample time to meet up with some long-time friends at the iconic Marble Arch pub on Rochdale Road (https://marblebeers.com). Fantastic Marble brewed beer and home cooked food served in a Victorian tiled room. If you haven’t been to the Marble this is enough of a reason on its own, but be ready for the floor.
We arrived at The Yard in Cheetham Hill (the superb venue for NQJAZZ gigs run by wonderful musicians Kyran Matthews and Emily Burkhardt) and were assaulted by a buzz of anticipation from the capacity crowd. And why not, with the other members of this international quartet being the drummer Anton Eger (Phronesis, Emma Rawicz and much more), bassist Conor Chaplin, who seems to be playing with almost everyone and Elliot Galvin on keyboards (Dinosaur and again much more). On a small tour of the UK, including Ronnie Scott’s in London two days later, they were presenting the music from their latest album “Cabaret” (ACT Records).
It only took the first number, with Marius on both soprano & tenor to justify the buzz. The excitement generated by the incredible display of musicality at such a high level of technical performance was akin to being run over by a bus.
The entire audience was hooked and they couldn’t get off the hook for another two hours. The feedback from the audience was clearly feeding into Marius and the band and there was no shortage of smiling faces in both musicians and audience.
This year I have seen some of the worlds greatest jazz musicians but this was very special. What a day out for Jazz.
MIKE WRIGHT