It’s
been a number of years since I was at the Lancaster Jazz Festival and the main
venue - where the free bands appear – has moved and changed significantly.
Kanteena is a rustic, barn style venue with rows of benches, part of a
significant complex of which the weather on the day did not encourage the use or
exploration of. It’s on the outskirts of town, which makes parking easy (though
expensive), but also seems to be away from the town centre, which is a shame.
A bad case of kennel cough kept us away from the Saturday sessions – when the weather was much better – but Sunday was always the most enticing day of the weekend.
We arrived in time for most of Katoush, a local band led by trumpeter Adam Bradbury, with sax, guitar, electric bass and drums. A fine set which featured Hubbard’s Little Sunflower, Hancock’s Canteloupe Island and Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder, followed by an original Up-North. All delivered with obvious joy, particularly from the leader. If I lived in the Lancaster area I’d try to catch their gigs as often as I could.
Next up was Mahuki, a Scottish band currently on tour. We only caught the first track as we were headed to another gig but they were led by guitarist Honza Kourimsky, with trumpet, bass guitar, drums and Michael Butcher who played a fine tenor solo over a modern, spacey, groove based jazz.
Inner Space at Moorscape were the main draw for the festival, a tiny space I recall from last time I was here though I suspect the name has changed, or I’ve forgotten it. Turnout wasn’t as good as I’d have expected for musicians of this calibre, presumably due to the free event at Kanteena, which spared the walk through the rain, albeit a short one.
Inner Space could play any festival in the world; serious jazz by five first rate musicians and, with apologies to pianists and guitarists, I can’t get enough of these chordless units. Free jazz with a solid hard-bop root ensuring it never descends to random doodling.
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| Xhosa Cole w. Steve & Christine T |
Special mention to
friend of the north east, tenor saxophonist Xhosa Cole, who’s surely matured
into one of the finest sax players in the country, alongside his fellow band
member here, Dee Byrne on alto. Faultless rhythm from Larry Bartley and Gary
Wilcox on double bass and drums respectively, and the only acoustic bass across
the four bands we saw. I like electric and acoustic bass which doesn’t mean I
like either so much as both, so a mix is best for me. And of course the
leader and composer Loz Speyer never put a note wrong as he led his younger
colleagues through this difficult, rewarding music, steeped in jazz history but
never sounding passé.
Back to Kanteena for one more show before the journey home, just as the weather was improving. Yoshizawa were described as jazz/prog rock though I suspect the jazz may have been added especially for the festival. Or perhaps it’s just that jazz can be applied to virtually anything nowadays. Flautist Ernie Moore who’d allegedly been landed with the introductions summed it up best: it’s a bit weird that it’s like not what it was like before.
They certainly reminded me of Dutch prog-rockers Focus in their jazzier moments but most of the audience at that time appeared to be more interested in the rock part of the description and several remaining jazzers soon left. However, the response from many of the rockers seemed very positive indeed and I certainly think they’ve got something, but there’s also something missing, whether that’s a singer – preferably female, a ‘serious’ musician to bring greater discipline or simply a bass player rather than the two keyboardists fulfilling that role. Still, some interesting sounds coming from guitarist Henry Skinner and relentless drumming from Amelie Yoshizawa, who gives them their name and seems to be the nominal leader.
It was unfortunate that we had to condense our visit to one of the two main days but I thoroughly enjoyed the short trip and hopefully we’ll be back next year and the dogs and the weather will be better. Steve T
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