Law and Hitchcock’s Same Moon In The Same World vibe up the Verdict

It’s a reviewer’s cliché that jazz is a religion, and Ant Law and Alex Hitchcock do have the appearance of a monastic duo as they take to the stage, threading through the sold-out crowd in The Verdict’s chummily chaotic basement. Law’s Dostoeyevskian beard gives him the look of an intense Orthodox hermit, while Hitchcock’s velveteen hoodie, cropped tonsure and beatific smile combine to cast him as benevolent Anglican monk.

They’re here touring their well-received Same Moon In The Same World album, recorded with an impressive cast of trans-Atlantic A listers - tonight we’ve got a leaner, meaner quartet version, with the equally cosmopolitan team of Misha Mullov-Abbado and Ernesto Simpson on bass and drums respectively. From the outset it’s apparent that the heat has been turned up: Ant Law’s volume ominous pedal swells set up a version of ‘Vivid’ that’s faster and more urgent than the recorded version, quickly breaking down to a brawny sax trio as Hitchcock picks his way through the changes like a high-wire acrobat, before Law comes in with typically angular interjections, building to a thrilling set of breaks from Simpson.

‘Octopus Pyjama’ has a dazzling, serpentine unison line, emerging from the lush and gorgeous textures like an exotic sea creature emerging from its coral reef, and builds up to a flamboyant typhoon of multi-textured drumming from Simpson. What a unique player he is - so loose and free, yet at the same time so accurate and propulsively grooving, even over the tricky meters of ‘Outliers’ - witness the delighted grins exchanged with Mullov-Abbado as they break the rhythm down and toss ideas back and forth. With such sure, flexible support the leaders are free to explore the further corners of their challenging compositions: ‘Calyx’ inspires an astonishing tenor solo from Hitchcock, tearing up and down the registers and bursting into dazzling fireworks as Simpson drives ever higher: an un-named new original sees Law navigating the rhythmic jigsaw with his customary virtuosic panache before letting rip with his uniquely inventive post-Holdsworthian improvisations, expanding his wide-interval approach into his own utterly idiosyncratic explorations of phrasing and articulation.

Mullov-Abbado contributes a heartfelt solo on ‘Chrysalis’ (the theme of which offers some pentatonic relief among the melodic complexity) utilising his low extension, and anchors impeccably throughout. Law and Hitchcock are working up a fine line in comedy banter as twin frontmen, but this shouldn’t obscure their rapid progress progress into the front rank of players, nor does the light-hearted atmosphere on stage detract from the fact that this is some world-class original music making. The crowd are with them all the way: there couldn’t be a finer way to open The Verdict’s season for 2023, nor a more compelling tribute to the sterling work that manager/drummer Tristan Banks has done in keeping the club moving forwards - while also celebrating the release of his first single from the upcoming Ubuntu records release under his name. More please.