Guest contributor Dave Fuller writes;

From Cape Town to Worcester
A musical world tour from Philip Clouts Quartet

Philip Clouts - piano, Samuel Eagles - alto sax, Marcus Penrose - double bass, Ted Carrasco - drums.

Huge thanks to all who came down to The Marr’s Bar on Thursday for Philip Clouts - our seventh gig of the year already!

I met Philip at the Jazz Promotion Network Conference a couple of years ago and booked him after seeing his quartet perform at Kidderminster Jazz in February last year (reviewed by Ian Mann on The Jazz Mann). His quartet has seen variations in the line-up over time but tonight, as with Kidderminster last year, he had Samuel Eagles on alto sax, Marcus Penrose on double bass and Ted Carrasco on drums.

I was particularly drawn by the South African influence on his writing (Clouts was born in Cape Town and although he moved to the UK at a very young age, he maintained a close connection with the culture of the country). It’s a style of music I have enjoyed listening to for many years, mainly through compilation albums, but know little about and certainly haven’t explored enough on our program to date!

Along with his work with Zubop / ZubopGambia, Clouts has released four albums - Direction South as a trio in 2004 then, as a quartet, Sennen Cove (2010), The Hour of Pearl (2013) and Umoya (2015), although tonight’s selection of original tunes were for the most part currently unrecorded and similar to those played at Kidderminster Jazz last year, with a couple of substitutions and some rearrangement of the set list overall.

The first set opened with ‘Marula’, a buoyant, joyful melody named after an indigenous tree of Southern Africa and conveying from the start that essence of South Africa. It also set us up with some adventurous blowing from Eagles against the more grounded, never overworked, excursions from Clouts.

‘Meandering’, with a bass feature from Penrose, was followed by ‘Walking in Starlight’, both taken from the most recent ‘Umoya’ album, the latter Clouts’ tribute to the “godfather of Afrobeat” Fela Kuti.

The album ‘Hour of Pearl’ was largely inspired by John Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row’, the album title referring to the magical moment just before dawn breaks. From that album, ‘As Evening Falls’ is a contemplative, moody reference to the similar dusky end of the day.

We were then transported a different continent altogether with ‘Pindorama’, literally ‘the land of palms’ in reference to Brazil that featured another tidy, melodic feature from Clouts to close out the first set.

Moving continents again, a traditional New Orleans rhythmic theme was laid down for ‘Going To Congo Square’, the place where, in the 18th Century, black slaves were permitted by their Spanish and French owners to gather every Sunday where their various cultural backgrounds would come together in music and dance. While structurally rooted in the New Orleans jazz tradition, Eagles’ soloing reflected more contemporary styles.

Introduced by Clouts as his “lockdown piece”, ‘Solitude’ was inspired by the simple compositions of Keith Jarrett’s ‘Sacred Psalms’, which Clouts listened to a lot during that peculiar period of our collective existence. Introduced with a low, sombre sax statement, the tune opened up into a beautifully serene melody in 3/4 time.

‘Scintillate’ was followed by the West African influenced ‘Rubik’s Rubric’, which saw the most dynamic soloing from Clouts of the evening, with the ever present yet ever subtle carpet of drums from Carrasco developing into a proper drum feature at the end.

The set ended with the rhythmically intricate ‘Tilt’, another Latin American inspired piece. The audience, disappointingly below average in number for the third time in a row but nonetheless appreciative to capacity, were rewarded with an encore of ‘Biram Blues’, a solid groove that enticed a delightful bass solo from Penrose and sent us on our way.

Clouts’ writing is consistently interesting and varied, drawing on a wealth of diverse cultural references that have inspired his musical journey. While his playing at times feels a bit ‘safe’, together with the more adventurous expressions from Eagles on sax the compositions really come to life, particularly in the live setting. Also noted by several audience members was the role played by Carrasco on drums - “so much going on”, “a style that completely filled the background yet wasn’t overpowering - I can’t put my finger on how he did that”.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring this music to Worcester and to see it well received by a new audience. A good few CDs were shifted too, which is always a great endorsement for the quality of music we are able to enjoy through this rewarding project.

DAVE FULLER