Julian Siegel Quartet livestreaming from Ronnie Scott's - April 29

(Screenshot by Ken Drew)

Julian Siegel (tenor sax/bass clarinet); Liam Noble (piano); Oli Hayhurst (bass); Gene Calderazzo (drums).

A relatively straight ahead blowing session. I say relatively because there were moments when they strayed from the straight and narrow and I don't mean that in any derogatory sense. Quite the opposite in fact as these meanderings all added to the broad vista of the music. Vista is actually the title of a recent album of which several of the items played were drawn from and which I reviewed back in 2018. I liked it then and time has done nothing to change my mind.

(Screenshot by Ken Drew)

My first memory of hearing Julian was in the unlikely setting of the Highfield Hotel in the tiny village of East Rainton just outside of Durham. This was one of Paul Edis' early entrepreneurial ventures whereby he imported Julian from down there to play with Paul's trio up here. That was a great session and tonight showed that the saxophonist's prowess has in no way diminished.

Apart from his booting bebop enhanced tenor playing, he entrusted the more tender moments to bass clarinet and it sounded great - absolutely attuned to the mood of the particular piece.

(Screenshot by Ken Drew)

His cohorts too were of equal standing. Liam Noble, Oli and Gene. Remember their names when voting in the APPJAGs although Gene, born in the country formerly known as Trumpland, may not be eligible.

(Screenshots by Ken Drew)

I probably didn't catch all of the titles as, like most livestreams, the volume of the  music was inversely proportionate to the volume of the announcements - or maybe vice-versa.

It was a good set and a worthy eve of International Jazz Day show. Lance.

The Opener; I Want to go to Brazil; Song; Un Poco Loco; Something Like this; New One; Footprints; Fantasy in D; The Goose.