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London Jazz Festival

Venue: Multiple
Town: London
Date: 13-22/11/14
Website: http://www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/

You need only look at the programme to see that the EFG London Jazz Festival is not only one of the major events of the international Jazz calendar, but is one of the most diverse and engaging,. Ranging from major concerts at the Southbank Centre and at the Barbican, and club gigs at the Vortex, Ronnie Scott's, Pizza Express and many other venues, to free concerts, films, workshops, talks and discussions, there was more than enough for every taste and every pocket! Indeed, the avid jazz fan had to work hard to catch even a fraction of what was on offer; talk about spoilt for choice! With the active participation of Serious, Jazzwise Magazine and a range of other sponsors, jazz is being brought to a wide public, and especially to many young musicians. Add to that commissioning no less than 21 new jazz pieces to be premiered at the Festival, and it is clear that this is an event with its eye on the future of jazz, and on the cultivation of new generations of players and audiences. At the same time, the Festival was happy to celebrate the heritage of jazz in all its colours - in particular, Hard Bop and Soul Jazz at the Celebrating 75 years of Blue Note concert, and the celebration of John Stevens work as a UK pioneer of Free Jazz, both on Saturday 22nd November. Jazz as a global phenomenon was also recognised, with a series of events recording 20 Years of Freedom in South Africa through the music of Abdullah Ibrahim, the Blue Notes and Bheki Mseleku.

Here are just a few highlights:

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John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension - Funk in Time and Space

Thursday 20th saw the welcome return of the ultimate king of fusion guitar to the Royal Festival Hall with his current band, the 4th Dimension. With the established line-up of Gary Husband (Keyboards and Drums), Etienne M'Bappe (Bass Guitar) and Ranjit Barot (Drums and Voice), John now has the backing of a hugely talented and varied group of musicians, who have the collective confidence to play creatively and challengingly with each other, and to inspire each other to new heights of improvisation.

Featuring many tracks from his 2014 live album The Boston Record, John also delved back into his musical past for several numbers. The opener, Guitar Love from the group's Now Here This album set the scene with blistering rock-guitar solos from the outset. The bluesy Miss Valley featured a heavy funk solo from M'Bappe, but also demonstrated the high level of rapport between the band members - particularly between Ranjit and Gary as they counterpointed each other through the theme.

Following Abbaji, John played the beautiful Light at the Edge of the World, in honour of Pharoah Sanders. This plaintive ballad underlined McLaughlin's capacity to play soft and gentle, as well as fast and loud, and to paint sound pictures in a full range of tonal colours. Echos from Then from the live album - a tune reminiscent of the Mahavishnu Orchestra - gave Gary Husband a chance to move from his keyboards to stretch out on the drums - including a short duet with Ranjit. Senor CS (from 2006's Industrial Zen) was a feature for John: another slow bluesy number, the solo vaguely reminiscent of Gary Moore (!!!!).

The heavy funk of Sully featured more fast drumming, to be followed by the swamp blues of New Blues, Old Bruise, also from the Industrial Zen album. Again, the tune exhibits shifts of tempo - soft, gentle playing with stop-time. More bravado funky bass playing on the frantic Hijacked gave McLaughlin and M'Bappe the opportunity to exchange licks at high speed. Another nod to Pharoah Sanders came with The Creator has a Master Plan - which could be described as a devotional samba.

Finally, the band played Mother Tongues, which goes back at least as far as 2000, with the Heart of Things band. This number encapsulates what is so powerful about this group: almost intuitive rapport between the players, plenty of light and shade, stellar solos on drums and guitar, and what can only be termed precision improvisation. Somehow, the 4th Dimension are able to play fluent, original solos within a tight, almost disciplined ensemble - with McLaughlin roaming the stage, beaming with delight at the sheer mastery of his ensemble. All this and a trip back to 1971 for the encore - Mahavishnu Orchestra's You Know, You Know. It was a delighted audience that left the Festival Hall that night!

Marcus Miller - Orchestrated Funk

Marcus Miller must have given one of the stand-out gigs of the EFG 2014 London Jazz Festival, on Friday 22nd November. Having been off the road for most of the year, writing and recording new material for his forthcoming album, Marcus and his band appeared fresh and raring to go. With a line-up virtually the same as when I last saw him in May 2013, but augmented with a second guitar, a second bass, a percussionist and a kora player, the group were comfortable with the material and with each other.

Much of the music came from Marcus' new writing, themed on the migration of African rhythms to South America, the West Indies and the east coast of the USA. The performance also featured the World Premiere of a new piece, commissioned especially for the Festival: Hylife. A funky piece of African inspired music, with the horns playing a township jive, this featured a stonking sax solo from one of the stars of the night, Alex Han. The tune was a real scene-setter for the evening - strong rhythms, superb soloing and just huge enjoyment all round.

The set continued with a truly funky version of Papa was a Rolling Stone - Miller's own bass work was stunning, but he also has this knack of driving his players along, cranking up the tempo, seemingly choosing soloists at will and then encouraging them to the heights of funky endeavour. On this tune it was a scorching solo from guitarist Adam Agati. On B's River it was the kora of Cherif Soumano whose themes were taken up first by the drums (the excellent Louis Cato) and percussion (Adama Dembele), then by guitarist Guimba Kouyate, who managed to echo the kora sound and mould it into a Spanish/Moorish theme. The resultant sound was an organic blend of African traditional rhythms and jazz-fusion finally taken to the ultimate with a duet between kora and sax.

Jekyll and Hyde, from the Renaissance album, was a funky workout for the core band, the strong groove providing a basis for sax, drums, Agati's rock-style guitar, Lee Hogans' trumpet and Brett Williams synthesizer. We Were There was a tribute to George Duke (who worked with Miller on - among other things - Miles Davis's album Amandla). It provided a perfect opportunity for a Marcus Miller bass extravaganza. Next came one of the new pieces: the stunning Slave House at Goree. Written to evoke the power of music to transcend oppression, the tune started with a simple piano introduction, leading into an opportunity for Marcus to solo on bass clarinet. This, in turn, gave way to a plaintive soprano sax solo by Han, before the whole piece rose to a stunning crescendo. This is destined to be a new Miller classic!

Brett Williams was then given his opportunity to shine with a solo spot which reached back into the history of jazz piano. Moving effortlessly from ragtime to Tatumesque blues and then to stride piano with echoes of Duke Ellington, this was a gem of improvisation. It provided a suitable interlude before Miller set off on a heavy-funk version of Tutu, featuring a breathtaking drum solo/percussion battle, with the boss egging his cohorts on. The ecstatic audience demanded and received a couple of encores.

I've not seen Miller have so much fun before; he positively beamed throughout the concert. He seemed to revel in the challenge of improvising in the company of his fellow musicians - not least when he duetted with new addition, Senegalese bassist Alioune Wade. He also demonstrated his powers as a leader and writer, reforming and recreating his themes as he went along, and challenging his band to ever-greater feats of creativity. It was a magical evening which sent the audience home with an audible buzz.

[Thanks also to Claire - there with her son for her first ever Marcus Miller gig - for the loan of the pen!]

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