The Dominic J Marshall Trio @ The Globe – March 29

Dominic J Marshall (keys, electronics, vocals, introductions); Glenn Gaddum Junior (bass guitar); Jamie Peet (drums).

(Review by Ann Alex/photo courtesy of Ken Drew)

This was a joint venture put on by the Jazz Co-op and Jazz North East, and it was great to see fans from both camps enjoying the music. Not your usual jazz trio with standard tunes and solos, but groove-based pieces, with influences from pop, soul, and hip-hop, and each musician playing a full part in the proceedings, although Dominic J Marshall was the undoubted trio leader. He also sang on some numbers, groove-based lines in a rather deadpan voice, not exactly tunes, but rather lines of notes, which suited the style. The pieces were all originals, but I didn’t catch the names of all the tunes.

The first tune was quite typical, an ensemble start with the drummer very much an equal player, groovy sections of music, slowing down at the turnaround of each section, a break for the drummer to perform, more ensemble led by keys, a bass break, drums and keys in rhythm, then a sudden end, just when you thought it would continue. Then came Mean To Me, partly sung, call and response with the singer, keys sounding organ-like, then bell-like. Next came Basle Old Town (?) which would have been a good cinema soundtrack, a landscape of sound, mixed, random, and a strong keys tune gradually emerges, with varied key sounds, piano, sweet, organ-like, ending with an American voice-over, although I couldn’t make out the words.  Storyline included singing ‘want to carry you all the way home’, and the last tune before half-time gave us a richly flowing piano.

After the halftime raffle, (2 CD’s were won by 2 lucky people) we had a love song Two Lives In One, ‘when you don’t know what to do, do what you’re destined to do’; then SP3, which was a remix of a computer game tune from Marshalls’ childhood, lots of spaceship sounds, whirrs from the keys, and deep tones. Then came a riff-driven song, Elephant Man, from the last album, with elephantish tones and jungle noises, winding down to a quiet ending. The final number was Hypernormalised, with conversational singing to a constant background of drums and bass. During this number, a mobile ringtone went off in the seat behind, which fitted quite well with the music, and it occurred to me that this was another musical influence used by the band, which is one of the aspects of the music which provides a very modern feel.

Another enjoyable evening of unusual jazz.

Ann Alex