Monday June 18th, Beaver Inn, Appledore: The Darkening Blue
NOTE: THIS GIG WILL START AROUND 8.50 DUE TO WORLD CUP COVERAGE AT THE VENUE
Another top London-based band appearing at North Devon Jazz Club. Named The Darkening Blue, the band is led by trumpeter, composer and bandleader Andre Canniere and features some of the cream of British jazz musicians – namely saxophonist Tori Freestone, vocalist Brigitte Beraha, pianist Ivo Neame, bassist Michael Janisch and drummer Andrew Bain. Formed out of a desire to connect music with words, the band has appeared at major jazz venues throughout the UK and their music has been broadcast on BBC Radio and Jazz FM. To quote All About Jazz the band ‘is a fine example of a stellar line-up achieving a remarkable amalgam of depth, warmth and sensitivity’ while The Guardian’s critic wrote ‘Canniere’s instrumentals confirm his jazz-composing power and constructive writing for improvisers. The band is terrific.’
Wednesday June 20th, Broomhill Art Hotel: Janette Mason's Red Alert
Janette Mason • Keyboards Tom Mason • Bass George Hart • Drums
"Infectious grooving, clever composing and audacious improvisation... One of the best" — John Fordham, The Guardian
Janette Mason is a composer, arranger, producer and performer with a diverse musical career. She toured extensively throughout the 90s with artists like Oasis, Pulp and Robert Wyatt and can be heard on the CD soundtrack to the recent Disney release, Cars 3. She has proven to be a consummate musician and a standout talent in Jazz, Pop, Indie, Rock and World Music. Her latest project, Red Alert, is inspired by her passionate belief that jazz needs to constantly evolve to attract a younger, more diverse audience. Her unique contemporary compositions, drawing on her wide-ranging influences from Dave Brubeck to David Bowie and Herbie Hancock to Goldfrapp, combine interesting timescapes and modern beats with a cinematic texture and are underpinned by a mature and inventive jazz vocabulary. Her vision is brought to life by the explosive combination of George Hart on drums and Tom Mason on Bass and is a direct musical response to the political and social challenges now facing us all - hence the name Red Alert.
Janette's powerful and rhythmic approach to the piano is subtly fused with synthesizers to create a musical journey that is as engaging as it is thought provoking. Janette was nominated for a Parliamentary jazz award for her second trio album Alien Left Hand and she reached the Grammy ballot for The Live Smoke Sessions with Lea DeLaria for which she took on the dual roles of arranger and producer. Her music has been described as similar to E.S.T and The Bad Plus.
Mention Bryan Corbett and jazz trumpeters will instantly recognise this musician as a master of the trumpet and flugelhorn and on 2nd July jazz fans will have a rare chance to hear him perform in the south west.
Described by Sholto Byrnes in The Independent’s ‘Talking Jazz’ column as ‘a trumpeter and flugelhornist with a warm lyrical tone, a formidable technique and, in the higher registers, a semi-plastic stridency reminiscent of Freddie Hubbard’ Bryan has toured all over the world with renowned artists such as Tony Christie, Ben E. King and Ruby Turner and has been a featured soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
At this gig Bryan will be performing with a trio led by the award-winning pianist Craig Milverton. To add a personal note, I've been listening to Bryan for many years now and he's one of my all-time favourites - the "formidable technique" is a given - what marks him out is the tone. Don't miss it!