Linda May Han Oh jumps to Poland’s Jazz Jantar

Jazz Jantar embraces the music in all its guises, with two bands each night presented at Klub Żak in Gdańsk, a port city in the north of Poland. The opening night was double bill with New York noise-drone trio Grid and the Linda May Han Oh Quintet. The NYC bassist collaborated with the local NeoQuartet, playing material from her recent Aventurine album. This is a typical example of Jantar’s contrasts, with both scaly rock grind and string quartet sleekness enjoying the same audience throughout the evening.

The quintet began the set, with its leader’s bass-flow singing beside the spiral curlicue guitar of Matthew Stevens, the rest of the crew joining at a speedy pace, light-footed and buoyant. Rapid solo conversations ensued, and Oh took up electric bass for ‘Yoda’, Stevens leaving the stage and NeoQuartet entering. The composer acted as a fifth member of this string quartet, soloing while they plucked delicate patterns on violins, viola and cello. Fabian Almazan used footpedals to enlarge the abstract swirl of his piano, actually using a wah-wah pedal on his acoustic, which is something of a rare sound. The joyous swirl of ‘Ebony’ employed a complex mix between the strings and, first, Will Vinson’s alto saxophone, then Almazan’s keys, until the entire combo weighed in, the pianist achieving something approaching an atonal free Latin ragtime sound..!

Another very varied double bill involved the powerhouse Stateside trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Ajuah and a sensitive piano trio led by the Estonian bassman Peedu Kass. The latter group were scheduled to play first, but the order was switched, presumably by the trumpeter, who proceeded to scorch the earth with a mammoth two hour show. Not very sensitive to the Estonians, but Kass managed to take a surprising advantage of the evening’s strange movement from bombast to placidity, crafting a curiously calming journey of acoustic introversion during his Momentum set.

Scott’s drummer Corey Fonville made striking use of machine gunning electro pads, working tightly with master percussionist Weedie Braimah’s thracking djembe, while the leader slurred and smeared his way through a solo, easing down into softness. There was a keening spotlight sequence from alto saxophonist Logan Richardson, and the hyperactivity gradually crept back in, Scott bending horn pitches and Lawrence Fields providing dreamlike Fender Rhodes. ‘Songs She Never Heard’ had Scott on tambourine, while Braimah moved to bata drums, and Richardson flew off again. The trumpeter is a great orator, combining laughs with serious comment, but he does have a tendency to weave tales at great length. When ‘The Last Chieftain’ eventually struck up, the wait was worth it, and the band were drawn back for a spirited, horn-jostling encore of Herbie Hancock’s ‘The Eye Of The Hurricane’.

From rumination comes agitation, when pianist Kristjan Randalu concentrated on the glassy percussiveness of his high end keys, combined with the clattering drums of Toomas Rull and the propulsive bass of Momentum leader Kass. A mechanical theme was introduced, the trio working like an intricate steampunk contraption, oiled and primed for spider-creeping motion. John Coltrane’s ‘Countdown’ skittered along with piano punctuations, the soloing intertwined as part of the tune, before standing forward, exposed. During ‘Clockwork’, the strain became too much and Randalu achieved that rare feat of breaking a piano string, as the other two players joined in for the convoluted rush.

On Polish Independence Day, the local Staroniewicz North Park demonstrated their straightahead jazz slickness: a saxophone, vibraphone, bass and drums quartet with guesting Oslo trombonist Erik Johannessen. A hard improvisatory flash led up to a vibes solo, aided by tripping traps and pulse bass, this band often playing at their best when dividing up into subsections. They broke out a bluesy roller, highlighting the articulate lava bubbling of Johannessen, swinging into the full bloom of ‘Double Shuffle’.

The inventive, varied programming, vivid sound, with deep bass boosters, and multi-nation artist roster all combined to make this another classic Jantar marathon spreading across 10 days.