Two heavyweight US players are over here next month, both of whom really do sometimes frighten the horses with the intensity of their performances. Altoist Immanuel Wilkins is part of the informal Blue Note “house band” – a pool of players who often appear on each other’s albums, including Joel Ross on vibes, Marquis Hill on trumpet and Kendrick Scott on drums. His latest release is Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 1, echoing similarly titled classics by Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Paul Motian and dozens of others. It is a powerful document of the joy of long-form improvisations, knotty and muscular in places, surprisingly lyrical in others, interspersed with passages of hypnotic, repetitive beauty. Wilkins and his quartet appear at the Jazz Café on Saturday July 18 and it’ll be quite the evening, just don’t bring any horses. Or improvised jazz agnostics. https://thejazzcafe.com/event/immanuel-wilkins-quartet/?accept=true.
Immanuel Wilkins Quartet
Also coming to London, where he performs more regularly than Wilkins, is James Brandon Lewis. He is another player not afraid to go “out” (or even “out out”). His output varies from concept albums (the wonderful Jessup Wagon, about a 19th Century black agriculturist and educator, and the fractured gospel of For Mahalia With Love), through bold sonic explorations (Abstraction is Deliverance; Apple Cores) to hard-hitting but highly listenable punk-funk-jazz (The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis). He is playing two nights at the home of left field music, Café Oto over in Dalston, so will probably bring his more tumultuous side to the proceedings, but I’ve seen him three times now and he has never failed to exhilarate – even when the music swerves into uncharted territory, the listener is always aware of a fierce intelligence at work. Details: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/james-brandon-lewis-quartet-two-day-residency/.
James Brandon Lewis, above (photo by Thomas Sayers Ellis )
Saxophonist and composer Alex Hitchcock is a London-based player who has spent time finding pastures new and fresh growth in the vibrant and highly completive NYC scene. He brings the results – complex, sometimes off-kilter compositions, always accessible, always delivered with passion and integrity – to Kentish Town’s Bull & Gate on Monday June 22, with selections from his album Letters from Afar. Full listing for the rest of June, including Alex: https://jazzattheparakeet.com/.
A more familiar jazz landscape, perhaps, is explored by young Sam Braysher who hefts his honey-toned horn to the Pizza Express on July 2 to launch a new album called A Sinner Kissed an Angel. It is a collab with Amsterdam guitarist Linus Eppinger plus drummer Eric Ineke and consummate bassist Darryl Hall (no, not of “& Oates” fame, but a regular with the likes of Ravi Coltrane). It includes music by Horace Silver, Frank Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, Nat King Cole and Benny Goodman. The album has a warm, inviting, live-in the-studio feel, with the band totally relaxed playing in and around material they clearly cherish, perhaps not re-inventing the jazz wheel, but certainly giving it a damn good polish. Tickets to hear it live: https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/sam-braysherlinus-eppinger-quartet.
A quick non-sax local gig to mention. Expat Canadian singer Lauren Bush, now based in London, has gradualy been building a name for herself the old-fashioned way – by gigging, with both her own shows and guests slots with the likes of Ian Shaw. She is at Tufnell Park’s Aces & Eights on June 20 as part of the latest Red Desert Sessions. She will appear alongside fellow vocalist Angela Chan, singer/songwriter/drummer/host Eleonora Claps, Guillermo Hill on guitar and Andy Hamill on bass. Expect sophisticated jazz standards and smart originals, all for just £15. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/red-desert-music-presents-lauren-bush-angela-chan-eleonora-claps-tickets-1989185427160.
robtryan 