AmserJazzTime Festival
Royal Welsh College Of Music & Drama, Cardiff
Thurs 7-Sun 10 June
Derived from the weekly live session of the same name, RWCMD’s AmserJazzTime Festival is a four-day celebration of world class jazz featuring top names as well as emerging talent, much stemming from the college itself. This year there will be a particular focus on female performers, a detail which shouldn’t be overlooked, as just a cursory glance through the annals of jazz history is enough to reveal to you just how vital it is.
On Thurs 7 Evelyn Glennie, dubbed the first person in history to successfully create and sustain a full-time career as a solo percussionist (counting collaborations with Philip Glass and Bela Fleck among her many credits), will be demonstrating her considerable dexterity together with Trio HLK – three more extraordinary musicians who also have a penchant for exploration and innovation consequently blurring the boundaries between contemporary classical music and jazz.
Another who seeks to shift the concept of musical subgenres is British Bahraini trumpet and flugelhorn player Yazz Ahmed, at the RWCMD on Fri 8. Her captivating sound illustrates her mixed heritage and spiritual connection to Arabic music as well as avant-garde, electronica and psychedelia. Her equally impressive accolades include work with Radiohead and These New Puritans as well as composing an entire suite of music, Polyhymnia, inspired by courageous and influential female role models.
Also performing, for free on Fri 9 in the foyer, are London all-woman seven-piece Nerija. Well versed in the sounds of afrobeat, jazz, hip-hop and South African township music, they effortlessly stun with their exceptional arrangements and formidable musicality. Like Yazz Ahmed, they are alumni of the pioneering scheme Tomorrow’s Warriors, committed to the development of artists from diverse backgrounds with considerable skill and aiming to build opportunities for future generations of jazz musicians.
With free admittance sessions in the foyer (featuring the aforementioned emerging artists) totalling four full days of excellent music, this event illustrates a perfect example of what those future generations will look like and it is very inspiring indeed. CHARLIE PIERCEY
Tickets: £18/£16 (Trio HLK) / £14/£12 (Yazz Ahmed) / foyer performances free. Info: 029 2039 1391