Thomas Gould. Slaughtered Lamb, EC1. 28th November 2012. Photo credit :Nuriya Oswald

Chloe Booker, a good friend of the LondonJazz site, puts on varied triple bills for a younger audience at small venues across London. The evenings which Chloe puts on showcase emerging talent, and juxtapose very different artists. The whole endeavour has a really friendly vibe.

The highlight on Wednesday was fine classical violinist Thomas Gould playing Nico Muhly, Bach (Chaconne in d minor) and Paganini.

What’s it got to do with jazz, someone will inevitably ask…Quite a bit. First, Gould has the unerring, flawless sense of time of an Eddie Gomez or an NHOP, and I’m convinced it was that which enabled his narrative in the Bach to unfold so clearly,  and must have been a part of what held a pub basement audience completely transfixed for 13 minutes of solo violin music. (It no doubt also helped that he was playing an undying masterpiece…)

Furthermore, the spirit of Chloe’s programming is also open-minded, and often showcases jazz musicians. The other acts in Wednesday’s lively and well-received programme, the last Platform 33 of 2012, were an impassioned, fluent and very cleverly scripted cabaret performance from Damsel Sophie, and a powerful set from Welsh-Ghanaian-North Londoner nu-soul singer-songwriter Juliyaa.

Platform33.co.uk