SWANSEA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL – DAY THREE | LIVE REVIEW
Maritime Quarter, Swansea, Sun 22 Jun
Claire Martin really stamps her feisty personality onto her vocal performance. Fearless with her ability to reconstruct and improvise melody lines and accomplished at illustrating different timbres in her voice – one minute breathy and bewitching, the next a surge of soulful power, she completely enraptured her audience from start to finish. I have to admit this kind of vocal style, especially when it excerises scat singing, usually leaves me cold, however Martin’s distinctive sound and ability certainly swayed me.
Having been described as ‘the Lewis Hamilton of the tenor saxophone’, it’s no surprise that Simon Spillett unloaded a wild and invigorating set upon us. His playing could be described as mercurial; he strives to explore as many melodic and harmonic variations as is humanly possible when it comes to his solo sections. Spurred on by a life long admiration of tenor saxophonist (and multi-instrumentalist) Tubby Hayes, Spillett recreates and innovates this dangerous technique of the tenor sax to stirring effect.
Proving herself to be one of the most unique violinists in the country, Sarah Smith and her quartet easily gained the favour of the audience at the National Waterfront Museum. Her folk beginnings were palpable throughout, particularly on tunes such as Nostalgie where the melody takes on characteristics of different cultures as is familiar in gypsy jazz. Another satisfying part of her set was the almost flamenco treatment of popular standard Caravan, before launching head first into chugging gypsy rhythms for the solo sections.
As we reached the late afternoon period, Protect The Beat elevated the mood even further with music much in the same vein as Jeff Lorber’s Friday night concert. Hard jazz fusion with a hint of the ethereal, led by award winning sax player Derek Nash, PTB have a sound evocative of the late 1970s and 80s, frequently using showy synth sounds and not averse to lengthy ‘standing on a mountain’-style guitar solos. Indeed drummer Darby Todd showed he had background in a rock group (with Justin Hawkins of The Darkness) as his hands were blurring for the majority of the set and I was half expecting smoke to emanate from his part of the stage!
After this uninhibited hoopla it was calming to bask in the ingenuity of Huw Warren’s performance. A real stand out artist on Sunday’s bill, Warren had entirely unconventional designs on his music. Classical, minimalist, folk and world music influences cropped up in his repertoire. In fact I was left with the impression that it was not really jazz at all, at least not as it is traditionally known. All but absent were the expected blues notes and the standard chord sequences; the harmony was far broader, allowing for more open-ended melodies. Warren gave a solo set to begin with, as his band were delayed and it was this that first revealed a refreshing and original piano style unlike anything I had heard before.
Trio Valore made an exceptionally large noise for a trio. Drummer Steve White was a force to be reckoned with, drowning the modestly sized Ocean room in a sea of complex cross-rhythms and heavy, steady beats. Damon Minchella drove the group forward with thunderous basslines whilst keys player Justin Shearn’s sweeping melodies on Hammond and Rhodes rang out, the group shunned a subtle approach in favour of plenty of drama. Unfortunately time didn’t permit a trek around the fringe today but I did manage to catch the Brazilian rhythms of Andre Luz, an adept vocalist and percussionist joined by guitar to bring serene summer moods and a relaxed atmosphere as the festival draws to a close.
The final act of the evening and of the entire festival was the illustrious Shakatak. Rarely has a group enjoyed so much success in a jazz field, but tonight we were given insight into why they are held in such high regard. They are consummate professionals with seemingly unlimited stamina and an instinctive ability to hold an audience. They clearly take pride in their stage presence as well: when they walked on the first thing I noticed was that the bass player had blue LEDs all along the length of his fretboard! They gave us old favourites such as Night Birds as well as more recent material, most notably Emotionally Blue which was distinctly reminiscent of their contemporaries Steely Dan. Whilst some might argue that they use all the clichés in the universe, tonight they proved that they are timeless.
So there ends a truly unique and impeccable accumulation of bands and music. I sincerely hope the festival can return next year as it surely will become a cultural milestone for Swansea’s arts scene and give considerable social and economical gravitas to Wales.
words CHARLIE PIERCEY
