Jeff Herr Drums; Maxime Bender Sax; Laurent
Payfert double bass
(Review by Steve H/Photo courtesy of Ken Drew.)
Prior to attending this gig I had the rather unpleasant
experience of dining in one of those all you can eat world buffets so popular
with the social media generation of today. One is able to sample food from
all over the planet burgers, burritos, Bolognese, black
bean beef and bhuna to name but a few which seem to have nothing in
common apart from a lack in overall quality. Funnily enough there was no food
on offer from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg but luckily, on the same evening, there was a gig on at The Jazz Cafe where this small European country was
represented and this time the fare certainly didn't lack any quality.
The drum, bass and saxophone trio format seems to be becoming
increasingly popular. The absence of a piano seems to increase the
intensity of the performance. The Jeff Herr Corporation hail from
Luxembourg and on Tuesday night produced two sets of high octane,
complex and invigorating jazz in their first ever UK performance. Each
band member is a gifted musician in his own right but when they played together
they really hit a groove and were able to carry the audience with
them. Apart from a marvellous interpretation of David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World, with the theme
magnificently improvised on sax by Maxime Bender, all the other tunes were
originals including a sumptuous ballad inspired by Herr's 6 year old daughter.
The piece, entitled Journey To Bliss,
was introduced with a wonderful bass solo from the only non-native Luxembourger
in the band - French man Laurent Payment. The final piece, the title track
of their album, Layer Cake included a
mesmerising drum solo from the band leader, and incredibly affable MC, Jeff
Herr. So, after a rather indigestible start to the evening a musical
delight emerged. I can safely say that the Luxembourger trumped the
Hamburger.
Steve H.
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