Zoe Rahman (piano, compositions); Byron Wallen (trumpet); Rowland Sutherland (flute); Flo Moore (bass); Cheryl Alleyne (drums).
The last time I saw Zoe Rahman was at the Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music where she delivered a terrific solo set. I've also seen her in the past in duos and trios – but this was the first time I have seen her leading a quintet – and a very fine quintet indeed.
This was also the first time this band had appeared anywhere, and as Zoe said – the first time she had heard the music for real, although she wrote it all. The whole event had a playful atmosphere of friends just coming together to make music.
The rhythm section of Flo Moore on double bass, and Cheryl Alleyne on drums supported a slightly unusual front line of Rowland Sutherland on flute and Byron Wallen on trumpet. Wallen was billed as also playing flugelhorn, but had decided he could make do with a mute, much to Zoe's amusement.
They opened with one of Zoe's regular favourites, Red Squirrel which featured a blistering solo from Wallen. Many of the other tunes had been written for family members, plus one that she had written as a Grade 8 piano exam piece.
Sutherland's flute gives this quintet a rather different sound to the more common trumpet/sax line-up, and he contributed some powerful solos as, of course, did Zoe Rahman herself.
This is a new band with a terrific sense of fun, and we can only hope they retain that and that they get more chances to perform it. They hinted at a possible recording at some time in the future, and that's definitely worth looking out for. Peter Slavid
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