Okoe Ardyfio and Tom Bancroft – Africa Groove Machine, Piccolo, George Square, Edinburgh, 21 July 2019

This eight-piece band raised the (tented) roof on the final night of this year’s Edinburgh Jazz and Blues festival. Sadly Okoe Ardyfio, esteemed drummer Tom Bancroft’s one-time Ghanaian drums teacher, was unwell so could not be present in person. However, despite this potentially discombobulating personnel loss, Bancroft et al held things together extremely well, to the point when Ghanaian djembe player and dancer Adie Baako Elias had most of the audience on its feet, join him in grooving to the West African – Jazz rhythms.

Meanwhile the other guests in Scotland, kpanlogo and djembe – whizz Ghanaian Thomas Annang and South African trumpeter, Claude Deppa both brought a welcome rawness and at times, particularly from Annang, a mind-expanding complexity to the overall sound.

Bancroft’s accompanying Scottish jazz crème de la creme were equally responsible for stoking tonight’s groove machine, with tenor saxman Martin Kershaw and guitarist Kevin MacKenzie both contributing some rather delicious solos, aided and abetted by trombonist Michael Owers and Mario Caribe on bass guitar.

Judging by the expanding grins all around, the long, two – set concert was a resounding success, and will have motivated more than one of us to seek out Afro-beat co-inventor, drummer maestro Tony Allen’s 2017 tribute to Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers.

And let’s hope this band can continue to successfully negotiate the distance between their homelands, to keep producing together this wonderfully hybridised, joyous and sophisticated music.

Haftor Medboe & Jacob Karlzon, The Debating Hall, Teviot Row, Edinburgh, 21 July 2019

Following a necessarily delayed start due to the need for piano-tuning, serendipitously-matched Edinburgh-based Norwegian guitarist Haftor Medboe and Swedish pianist Jacob Karlzon gave an all too short but beautifully sweet concert of just over an hour. Seven tunes inclusive of an encore were aired, with singer Jessie Bates adding her gentle tones to two of these. The music seemed to encourage focus and calm simultaneously.

Medboe explained that Karlzon and he had only played together for not much more than a year, however this did not contribute any obvious problems tonight. Certainly, their contrasting styles were complimentary. Whilst Medboe generally was the one to set up the atmosphere with ethereal guitar echoes or soft scratching, sometimes using a bow, Karlzon would stride in with dramatic harmonic changes, confident melody and sometimes, as in “Waiting”, strident repetitive chords. As the beautiful melodies unspooled around us all, this listener saw vines entwining. These intimate – feeling dances all ended serenely, and often as in the appropriately named “Tranquil”, the end arrived suddenly and with a satisfyingly simple motif.

Indeed, during that particular piece, what with its lulling frequent returns to the tonic, a lady in front of me apparently felt so soothed that she nodded off – as has been reported at distinctive band The Necks’ concerts.

This is a duo that works particularly well, so it is hoped that there will be opportunity for Medboe and Karlzon to both tour and record together in the future. Such emotionally engaging, lyrical and even calming music is to be welcomed. Happily, a mini vinyl release of four of tonight’s tunes is currently available on Copperfly Records.

 

 

Moses Boyd Exodus, Spiegeltent Palais Du Variete, George Square, Edinburgh, 19 July 2019

Two times MOBO winner, hyperkinetic drummer Moses Boyd brought his current, largest band from London to this well-attended Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival gig, where he gave the audience what they’d come for: impressively subtle drums technique particularly obvious during Boyd’s solos; and great jazz, jazz-funk and jazz-fusion from the whole quintet whether playing en masse, or in smaller groupings.

Front stage was Nathaniel Cross on trombone with Deji Ijishakin on tenor sax, Deschenel Gorden on keys and Artur Zaitz on guitar. All demonstrated their excellent technique, Zaitz and Ijishakin perhaps the most strikingly tonight, though one suspects that from one gig to another, they all have their shining moments. Tonight, this listener was left hoping Zaitz might in the future be given a little more space, as funking up proceedings seemed a particular strength.

Watching Boyd smiling his way through the quite intense and highly accomplished set, with narry a pech, one wonders what various projects this, still young, musician will be involved in in subsequent years.

A similar piece appeared in DooBeeDooBeeDoo – New York, on 18 August 2019:  https://doobeedoobeedoo.info/2019/08/17/concert-review-moses-boyd-exodus-uk/

Trio Magico, The Jazz Bar, Edinburgh, 19 July 2019

From the first minute of this sell-out Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival concert, at the comfortably intimate Edinburgh venue, the audience was rapt, with none of the usual Jazz Bar sporadic chat happening. All focus was on the trio as they played in one exhausting set, ten arrangements of the interesting, lyrical and beautiful music of Brazilian composer, master guitarist and pianist, Egberto Gismonti.

A national treasure in his homeland, Gismonti’s extensive and diverse oeuvre is often less well known overseas, with the possible exception of his 1979 collaboration with Charlie Haden and Jan Garbarek on ‘Magico’. So tonight, the trio’s pianist Paul Harrison helpfully shared some background information and tune names, in Portuguese and English, which was very helpful for the ignoramuses (this writer included) present.

According to Harrison, Gismonti is “a genius”, the latter’s creativity wide-ranging and his compositions and musicianship showing that he has a deep engagement with not just jazz, but also with his country’s traditional music and with western classical music. All of which could be heard tonight in the trio’s respectful and vivid homage to him.

Harrison described how he had transcribed the music from Gismonti’s recordings, then made each piece the trio’s own. A labour of love indeed, given the effort this must have entailed. However, one got the feeling that Gismonti himself would have greatly enjoyed tonight’s concert, not least because of the trio’s own extrapolations and additions.

Mario Caribe on double bass, himself Brazil-born, played with his usual fluency and with obvious sympathy and pleasure, likewise drummer Stuart Brown expounded upon the interesting rhythms with rigour yet apparent ease.

Meanwhile the pianism of Harrison, who was also responsible for the rich and lovely arrangements, was remarkable. Clearly, as Caribe stated, Harrison has “dug deep” into Gismonti’s music, resulting in first-rate interpretations, which would not be out of place in any jazz bar or indeed concert hall anywhere.

Nowadays there is a growing appetite for both beautiful melodies and traditional/world music-informed jazz.  This trio delivers both, in impressive style. Festival programmers everywhere, take note!

Rumba de Bodas, The Debating Hall, Teviot Row, Edinburgh, 18 July 2019

Bolognese festival band, Rumba de Bodas partied into the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues festival earlier this month, and such is their popularity here thanks to previous visits, this year they had multiple concerts, all reportedly well-attended. Energetic, especially at the start and end of the long set, the gig was mostly up-tempo for the dance crowd and pleasantly reggae-heavy. At their best they reminded this former clubber of Rico at his height.

Mostly an ensemble affair, standouts were powerful singer Rachel Doe, saxophonist Guido Manfrini, Mattia Franceschini on keys and youthful guitarist Pietro Posani.

Not quite enough jazz in there for this music lover, but sufficient beats to keep the dancers happy.