Foran/McCallum & The Alan Law Trio @ The Bridge Hotel October 9

 Sean Foran (keyboards); Stuart McCallum (guitar).

Alan Law (keyboards); Katy Trigger (bass); Matti Ross (drums).

(Review by Steve H).

Australian Sean Foran and Mancunian Stuart McCallum are currently on a tour with a quintet launching Foran’s album Frame of Reference. Sunday night saw the duo perform songs from this album and also pieces specifically written by McCallum for the pair to perform. The music is not really Jazz as one might know it but it still manages to engage a Jazz audience. The pair produce fascinating, textured, dreamlike soundscapes which take the listener to very serene and peaceful places. McCallum is an outstanding guitarist and he dovetails effortlessly with Foran’s sensitive keyboard technique. To be honest, it’s not the sort of Jazz I would normally go for but I must say I really enjoyed the performance as did the rest of the not insubstantially sized audience.

Sunday night also saw the world premiere of a new work by the latest version of the Alan Law Trio. A thoroughly absorbing performance it turned out to be too. The trio played one long extended piece which ebbed and flowed and bobbed and weaved through all genres of the jazz spectrum. Each soloist was given the space to shine in a number of different styles be it funk, latin, bebop and fusion to name but a few. The movement from one style to another was seamless yet the audience could never predict which way the music was turning. There was even  that rare thing from a jazz musician, an element of humour which actually worked, when Matti Ross used his glass filled with ice to create a great percussive effect. At the end of the set the band was rewarded with rapturous applause and I am sure  I wasn’t the only member eagerly awaiting the next performance.

Steve H.