We've been here before. During 2020 Paul Edis' Ballads Before Bed became required late night listening. Now, in the early weeks of the new year, our London resident pianist has resurfaced with a fortnightly (Tuesday) series focussing upon new, original material, some rarely performed pieces from an ever-expanding songbook.
Eleven compositions in something like one hour, each one placed in context: an arrangement for a youth jazz ensemble, a number, possibly performed in concert on one occasion only, in the company of a visiting American post bop alto saxophonist, a tune written in twenty minutes and so on.
A brand new one to begin this evening's lockdown set - Renaissance. We look forward to a renewed, reinvigorated live music scene! Circle the Square with an African Highlife lilt, Cluster Fluster (heard live), Hop Goes the Weasel (written for a Lindy Hop event), Elegy from Edis' There Will Be Time sextet album, a good mix of material drawn from various projects down the years.
Skin and Bones, the composer recalling a gig with Greg Abate, perhaps the sole public outing for the tune, performed this evening with a little stride pattern for good measure. Throughout history musicians have told the tale of writing a tune, if not a masterpiece, in a matter of minutes. Paul Edis lays claim to such a feat. Visiting his bass-playing friend Mick Shoulder, Paul found himself with a few minutes to kill as Mick took his dog for a walk. Twenty minutes later, masterpiece or not, Paul had written Taking the Dog Out!
A ballad (not quite before bed), Splintered, from the days of John Warren's Splinter Group (ah, those were the days!) and on to the closing number, one our host worked on with Sage Gateshead's youth jazz ensemble Jambone, Loop the Loop. If solo piano is your thing, make a date with New Year, New Lockdown, New Music (3) on Tuesday 9 February, eight o'clock start.
Russell
Set list: Renaissance; Alice Who?; Circle the Square; Cluster Fluster; Hop Goes the Weasel; Elegy; Skin and Bones; The Way You Make Me Feel; Taking the Dog Out; Splintered; Loop the Loop
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