Here’s the second of our previews, picking out gigs from the London Jazz Festival.These are two choices from Rob Mallows, who runs the 500-strong London Jazz Meetup Group. The perspective of an unashamed fan. Thanks Rob!
“What I’m looking forward to:
Corea, Clarke, White’s Power of 3/ Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, November 15th, Barbican
Three quarters of Return to Forever hit London in a new super-group The Power of Three. Low-frequency-Lord Stanley Clarke shares the stage with his fusion compadres – It’ll be like the seventies never went away. Clarke shares the bill with the Flecktones’ Victor Wooten, with whom Clarke toured this year in SMV, so this is Christmas come early for electric bass fans: thumbs at the ready! Chick Corea and Fleck will be offering up a fascinating-sounding keyboard-banjo jazz shred-off to bring the gig to a close.
UPDATE: Here’s the confirmed Flecktones line-up
Bela Fleck – Banjo (acoustic and electric)
Victor Wooten – Electric Bass
Futureman- Drumitar
Howard Levy – Harmonica & Piano
Marcus Miller (above) plays Tutu Revisited /Gary Husband’s Drive, November 22nd, Barbican
The bass gods are smiling on London. Marcus Miller reprises Miles Davis’ 1986 Tutu, which saw Davis embrace electronica in a work which amazed and divided fans. Davis’ sparse trumpet, electronic drums, lush George Duke keyboards and Miller’s slap bass are world’s away from Kind of Blue, but reflect where jazz was in the eighties. Tutu was as much Miller’s album as Davis’ and showed his strong compositional skills. Gary Husband ‘s Drive quartet balances the electronic Tutu sound with some straight-ahead contemporary jazz driven by Husband’s awesome drumming.”
Categories: miscellaneous
If I could I'd be at both gigs without hesitation, but since I'm coming from Glasgow especially, they are just a little bit too far apart :(. Therefore I have settled with the Chick Corea / Stanley Clarke one!