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Graham Harvey All Star Quintet - Swansea Jazzland 20/06/07

There are many bands that claim to be All Stars but very few have the combined credits and talent of this outfit. Led by former Incognito keyboard player Harvey, the quintet also featured some of the finest (and busiest) players on the UK jazz scene saxophonist Ben Castle, trombone virtuoso Mark Nightingale (pictured), top jazz bass guitarist Laurence Cottle and last minute drum dep (for Ian Thomas) Matt Skelton.

The band kicked off the night’s proceedings, to a packed and enthusiastic Swansea audience, with an incendiary reading of Coltrane’s ‘Moment’s Notice’, one of his more challenging charts which led to inspired solos from all the band. Trombonist Nightingale in particular continues to stretch the boundaries of his instrument, playing with the speed and clarity of a trumpeter, and often in the same octave, impressive stuff. Castle also excelled, playing with a bluesy yet modern edge and continuing to demonstrate why he is one of the most popular and in demand sax players around.

The band continued through a variety of Coltrane tunes and standards, expertly balancing melody, dynamics and pyrotechnics. Highlights included Nightingale’s quartet version of ‘Weaver of Dreams’ and a tricky 5/4 arrangement of ‘I Remember You’, made all the more tricky by Cottle’s inventive rhythmic displacements on the coda.

The final fireworks came in the form of an insanely fast run through Parker’s bebop standard ‘Donna Lee’ which once again inspired mind-blowing solos from all involved. If this band is playing anywhere near you, don’t miss the opportunity to catch some of the UK’s greatest jazz talent doing what they do best.

Review: Alun Vaughan

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Graham Harvey All Star Quintet - Swansea Jazzland 20/06/07

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Neil Cowley Trio – Cargo, London 2/4/08

Last night The Neil Cowley Trio launched their new album Loud…Louder…Stop! at trendy Shoreditch club Cargo, not usually the kind of venue you’d expect to find a piano trio playing. But then they aren’t your typical piano trio. As the audience files in there’s a building sense of excitement and by the time Cowley and Co. take to the stage the room is jammed full. “Aren’t you going to cheer us on?” Cowley quips wryly. This sets the tone for the evening to follow, music matching Cowley’s playful, fun and excitable personality.

Portico Quartet plus Basquiat Strings - Union Chapel, London Friday 22 February

Basquiat Strings take the starkness of modern classical music and wrap it around a subtly pervading jazz beat. But while they maintain the haunting quality of classical string music, they generate an atmosphere which is constantly disconcerting and pleasantly surprising.

Dave Liebman/Phil Robson Quartet, RNCM, 31 January 2008

With the raw expressionism of John Coltrane, the punchy ballistics of Michael Brecker, the harmonic invention of Wayne Shorter: saxophonist Dave Liebman tells the story of the modern jazz saxophone. Particularly memorable was his meditative rendition of Coltrane’s ‘India’. As engaging as any solo was his magnanimous stage presence; the hunched shoulders, the facial contortions and the limp. You could feel the blood and sweat of an artist truly committed to what he really believes is important.