Jazz breaking news: José James And Jef Neve Dazzle At Ronnie Scott’s
Monday, September 20, 2010
From Kai and JJ, the first artists on Impulse records, nearly half a century ago, to another JJ, and Jef, the latest signings to the label still awaiting a rebirth, the album For All We Know, by singer José James and pianist Jef Neve, was launched in the UK at two full houses in Ronnie Scott’s during the middle of last week.
James was previously in the club a year ago with his Coltrane-themed Facing East band which is still to release an album. The new record is themed, by contrast, as an intimate series of duets, an exquisite collection of songs, imbued with a feeling of love, for its own sake, and for life, expressed through the transcendent spirit of jazz, and marks the debut of the pair for the great record label associated forever with the music of John Coltrane. James and Neve were joined for the majority of the two sets on the second night by the fine double bassist Neville Malcolm, and path-finding displaced beats drummer Richard Spaven.
To the left of the stage at the club in a position of honour there is a large photograph of Nat King Cole. One of the songs that the King Cole Trio were well known for, ‘Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You’, features on For All We Know, an early highlight of the first set. You couldn’t help but just forget yourself if you looked at the photograph as James sang. He has an expressive, rich voice capable of a kind of declarative urgency at times and down tempo as well as at walking pace can be very bluesy. Neve, during some extended solos, can draw on piano music from the great composers of the 18th and 19th centuries and possesses a rococo touch that circulates the melody and manages to find a point of departure time and time again for the other musicians allowing the music to flow to a higher level. Neve’s introduction to ‘Lush Life’ and James’ sufficiently introspective reading of the Billy Strayhorn ballad was a daring way to bring the second set to a close. It couldn’t have worked any better.
– Stephen Graham