Krzysztof Urbanski (tenor & soprano saxophones), Dominic J Marshall
(keyboards), Nick Jurd (double bass), Sam Gardner (drums) & Sam Bell
(percussion)
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Ken Drew).
London-based Sam Gardner (the man has relocated from the
Leeds Hothouse to the easy-to-crack jazz scene in the Smoke!) made a welcome
return to Splinter @ The Bridge with Samadhi, his youthful quintet. Remarkably,
Dominic J Marshall (keyboards, baseball cap and prodigious talent) and bassist Nick
Jurd (the look of a lower sixth former, the twenty-something trans-Atlantic
tour veteran), recent BMus graduates both, have tour itineraries stretching
into 2015 and beyond.
Samadhi is Gardner ’s
personal project seeking to play without ego (Buddhist philosophy a current
preoccupation). So, what to make of his compositions? The Doctrine of Mutual Independence, an expansive piece, opened the
set with Krzysztof Urbanski on soprano as Marshall developed the first of several
solos; harmonically complex, fluent ideas, devoid of the current vogue for tedious, repetitive
motifs. Subutai heard Urbanski touching
base with Coltrane and the post-Coltrane Wayne Shorter. The third and closing
number of the first set – Deminos - featured more invigorating piano as reeds
sat out (Urbanski sat and listened, no detached indifference).
The second set offered more of the same with one marked
difference - Gardner
presented several numbers without comment, without pause. The percussion axis
(Gardner and Sam Bell) constructed patterns based upon Eastern philosophical
thought (numbers, no.5 as an example, are of interest to the bandleader) with
Gardner indicating cues (the boys weren’t in need of such instruction as they
were on top of matters!) and smiling contentedly.
Russell.
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