Johnny Hunter (drums); Kyran Matthews (tenor, soprano sax); Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley (double bass) Adam Fairhall (keys).
It was a hot sunny evening when I arrived at the Slug and Lettuce to hear the music of the late great pianist Mulgrew Miller performed by the Johnny Hunter Quartet.
Although it was only 8:20pm, already, there was a good crowd in the upstairs room, maybe due to the Creative Space being inactive for the past 16 months. The doors to the balcony were open which cooled things down a bit and the band started at 8:45pm with the first of two sets finishing at 11:00pm.
Johnny and Kyran have previously collaborated on projects featuring the music of Cannonball Adderley, Jackie McLean, Wayne Shorter etc but I was curious as to how they would interpret the lesser known tunes of Mulgrew who died too soon at 57 years of age. Johnny Hunter, for those who haven’t heard him, seems to be at home in any playing situation. If you like Elvin Jones or Tony Williams then Johnny is your man.
Regarding Joshua C-B, I hope to hear more of this fine bass player and I’m pleased that I got to chat with him in person and it was interesting to hear him inside a quartet concept. His sound came across nice and clear with a big tone. Kyran Matthews was his usual hard driving self on tenor and soprano which went down well with the audience.
I must confess that I don’t know much about Adam Fairhall but he took some nice solos He had a trio workout on Like the Morning in the second set that impressed me.
To sum up, a marvellous evening of modern jazz. The sound sometimes came across with a suggestion of echo but maybe the heat had something to do with that rather than the acoustics as this is another venue where mics are not needed.
Next week the Creative Space hosts the Mike Hall/Andy Hulme Duo (saxes and Guitar) - If you are in the vicinity pop in!—Mike Farmer
Wingspan; One’s Own Room; Second Thoughts;
Leilian’s Leap; Elation; The Countdown; Like the Morning; Carousel
No comments :
Post a Comment