Sungrass, Music Spoken Here, The Marr’s Bar, Worcester, 12/03/2026

Matt Hill – trumpet, flugelhorn, Lucian McCauley – keyboard, Ollie Hatch – electric bass, vocals, George Milnes – drums

The third performance in a short MSH series featuring emerging acts from different UK cities featured Sungrass, a young quartet formed in Bristol. They followed the London based octet Ankora and the Birmingham based sextet Abacus, who both attracted large and appreciative audiences and whose performances are both reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann.

On a filthy night weather wise the attendance for Sungrass was slightly down but the standard of the performance was right up there alongside that of the other two acts. The UK is blessed with some outstanding young jazz talent – and I’m pleased to note that not all of it is based in London.

The members of Sungrass met at Bristol University with Hill, Hatch and Milnes quickly becoming friends and taking the decision to form a band. McCauley came along later and is the third musician to fill the keyboard chair, but I think it’s fair to say that Sungrass have now found the perfect man for the job.

As ever the gig was presaged by MSH instigator Dave Fuller’s “Piece Talks” video interview with the band, which is available to view via MSH’s Facebook page and Youtube channel. Fuller caught up with the group at a rehearsal and I think it was the first time that a full band has been interviewed for the series.

During the course of the chat we learnt that Sungrass started out playing covers by the likes of Herbie Hancock and Ezra Collective but quickly began writing original material for the group. They write collectively, usually expanding on ideas brought in by individual band members. The group aim to create music that is both melodic and exciting, with accessible melodies and grooves providing the springboard for more exploratory individual soloing. It’s a formula that provided the basis for tonight’s exciting show, the middle date in a short tour with gigs on successive nights in Bristol, Worcester and Exeter.

Sungrass is nominally led by trumpeter Matthew Hill who had previously visited MSH back in 2023 as a member of the Bristol based band Laimu, one of MSH’s earliest gigs. The quality of his playing on that date acted as the spark for Fuller to bring him back to Worcester with his own band.

Hill was the first of the band to recount his “musical origins” story. We learned that he started out on violin, following the footsteps of his mother, before switching to trumpet. “Trumpet was more fun”, he explained, “you could make fart noises on it!”. Hill initially studied politics and economics at Bristol but continued playing music with Hatch and Milnes. He subsequently studied music at The Guildhall in London, where he met McCauley, before returning to Bristol.

For his part McCauley started piano at the age of six but also studied classical flute and jazz guitar. He studied classical flute at Kings in London but became disillusioned with the classical world and subsequently undertook a post grad in jazz piano at The Guildhall. Currently he and Hill are based in London and Hatch and Milnes in Bristol. Despite the inevitable logistical difficulties Sungrass has continued as a band and is due to record an EP later in the year.

Hatch is primarily a guitarist and initially switched to bass due to the seemingly generic shortage of bassists. Although he still plays guitar he’s started to concentrate more fully on the electric bass and specialises on that instrument with Sungrass.

As a six year old Milnes inherited a drum kit from the late drummer of Milnes’ father’s folk rock band. The young Milne began drum lessons at the age of seven and was playing gigs with his dad’s band by the age of eleven. His introduction to jazz and fusion came via Snarky Puppy, a group that remains an influence on Sungrass.

The “Piece Talks” interview also touched on the problems facing young up and coming musicians with Hill stressing the need for versatility. Sungrass is his primary creative outlet but he also plays rock, swing, New Orleans and big band music as well as the occasional classical event. Like so many jazz musicians he also teaches and has also set up his own home recording system.

And so to tonight’s performance which began with Sungrass performing their debut single “Intention”, which was released in November 2025. This represented a relatively low key start with Hill featuring on flugelhorn alongside McCauley’s keys on the gently atmospheric intro. Milnes joined to add subtle cymbal embellishment, with Hatch eventually coming in on bass. This was Sungrass at their most melodic and lyrical, led by Hill’s smooth, velvety tone on flugel. McCauley’s keyboard solo on his Nord Stage 4 saw him adopting the electric piano or ‘Rhodes’ sound that he would favour all night. Gradually the music began to gather momentum with Milnes adding a sturdy backbeat, perhaps a little too forcefully at times, with the music largely continuing to put the emphasis on melody.

As its title might suggest the band’s second original composition “We Like To Party” placed a greater focus on energy and groove. This saw Hill switching to trumpet and the more obvious funk groove helped to fuel his hard hitting but effortlessly fluent soloing. The classically trained young trumpeter has technique to burn and his playing was flawless throughout the evening. McCauley followed on keys, again deploying a ‘Rhodes’ sound during the course of a carefully constructed solo. Hill then took over again on trumpet, fuelled by Milnes’ powerful drumming, which was much more appropriate in this context.

A third original, “Tomorrow’s Prince”, was a simple piece, based around just two chords, but it proved to be an excellent ‘blowing vehicle’ for the band. Hatch introduced the piece with a passage of unaccompanied electric bass, punctuated by the occasional cymbal shimmer. Hill was featured on Harmon muted trumpet before moving to an open bell as the music began to gather momentum. Hatch’s bass feature also included his wordless vocal melodies as he sang along to his own bass lines. Hill then resumed on trumpet, open bell at first but taking up the Harmon again towards the close. Despite its simple construction the band members were able to convey a wide array of colours and textures during the course of this tune. Apparently Hatch’s had only tried his bass / vocal feature for the first time in Bristol the previous evening. I think it’s something that’s going to remain in the set from now on.

The first cover of the evening was “Soulful”, a tune written by the late, great Roy Hargrove, one of Hill’s trumpet heroes and a considerable influence on the young trumpeter. A piece that lived up to its title tonight’s performance featured the articulate soling of McCauley on keys,  Hill on trumpet, and Hatch on bass.

This was followed by another cover, the tune “London Town”, written by the American drummer Ulysees Owens Jr. This was a more relaxed offering with a strong focus on melody. Hill achieved a flugel like mellowness on trumpet while Hatch delivered a liquidly melodic electric bass solo in the style of Jaco Pastorius or Mark Egan.

The original “Soul Juice” saw Hill switching to flugel and sharing the solos with McCauley.  The performance was also notable for a series of absorbing keyboard and flugel exchanges between McCauley and Hill.

The first set concluded with a version of Herbie Hancock’s much covered “Chameleon”, with a shuffling funk groove providing the launch pad for solos from Hill on trumpet and McCauley on keys, and with Hatch and Milnes also enjoying their own features. Also notable for some razor sharp ensemble playing this was a highly energetic and hugely enjoyable way to round off an excellent first set.

Tonight’s tune announcements were shared between Hill and Hatch and the second set began with the former inviting us to New Orleans with an arrangement of “The Line”, a ‘Nawlins’ flavoured composition by the marvellously named Jeff Coffin. With its shuffling grooves and funky bass lines this piece was great fun, with Hill encouraging the audience to clap along. Solos came from McCauley on keys and Hill on trumpet, at one point with drum accompaniment only, with Milnes then going on to enjoy his own feature. A real crowd pleaser to kick off the second half.

The name of the original “Falcon Broth” emerged from the working title “Chicken Soup” and featured buoyant melodies and an upbeat funky groove. This was a piece that neatly encapsulated everything that Sungrass is about with Hill and McCauley riding the groove to deliver fluent and expansive solos.

Hill’s original “San Antonin” was inspired by Spanish family holidays and saw the composer encouraging the audience to clap along with the tune’s clave rhythm. We responded readily on this Latin flavoured piece that brought a sunny holiday vibe to Worcester on a wet Thursday night. McCauley and Hill delivered the solos as we continued to add our rhythmic support.

This set’s only cover was “Lil’ Rock Way”, a tune from the “Brasil” ‘smooth jazz’  album released by guitarist Lee Ritenour and pianist Dave Grusin in 2024. This saw Hill switching to flugel and Hatch singing the tune’s wordless vocal hook. Ushered in by Hatch and Milne the slinky bass lines and subtly propulsive drum grooves provided the basis for the soloing of Hill and McCauley.

The penultimate tune was a yet to be titled original that was distinguished by its shifting meters, one of the most complex pieces in the quartet’s locker. The increasingly impressive Milnes negotiated the rhythmic challenges with great confidence as Hill on trumpet and McCauley on keys delivered their most expansive, and arguably best, solos of the night. The group told us of their plans to record an EP later in the year. Let’s hope this piece finds itself a name and that it appears on it.

Sungrass rounded the night off on a positive note with the original composition “Back Yourself”, introduced by a virtuoso solo bass feature from Hatch, played with a pick. A punchy and funky groove was then established, fuelling the final solos of the night from Hill and McCauley.

This young quartet earned themselves a great reception from the enthusiastic and supportive Worcester audience. Dave Fuller tried to coax an encore out of them but I think they’d probably exhausted their repertoire by this point. Hill also declared “my chops have gone!”, I’m not surprised after playing as brilliantly as that. All the band members had impressed but it was the trumpeter’s fluent and flawless playing that made the biggest mark.

I’d like to see Sungrass make a full length album, on the evidence of what we heard tonight they’ve got enough good quality original material to do that, and nobody would begrudge them the occasional judicious cover.

In addition to the quality of the playing and writing the quartet also impressed with their stage demeanour, self deprecating enough to poke fun at themselves but confident enough to engage the audience and to get them involved. Above all their youthful enthusiasm for the music shone through, which was great to see. The same has been true of all the young bands in this series, Ankora, Abacus and now Sungrass. Congratulations to Dave Fuller for giving these young musicians a platform on which to demonstrate their considerable talents.

The only downside was how scarily young they all looked. Your correspondent suddenly felt very old, which I suppose he is, and I don’t think I was alone in feeling that. Nevertheless it’s great to see that the future of British jazz is in such good hands, in all areas of the country.

 

 

 

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