Sebastian writes:

There have already been some very full reviews from this tour:

– One by Matthew Wright over at the Arts Desk, dwelling on the range of styles the band masters completely, concluding that the Impossible Gentlemen just “ooze authority”.

– One from Ivan Hewett in the Telegraph: “The group’s strength [..] is being able to marry ease and humour with the kind of musical subtlety that would otherwise seem over-complex.”

– One by Peter Bacon of the Jazz Breakfast, highlighting the deftness of their interaction: “the solo baton was passed from player to player with such elegance and generosity; it was as perfect an example of the balance between team and individuals as I can remember hearing.”

– We also have Chris Parker’s album review, which called their CD “compulsively listenable.”

I’d second all of what they say, and just add that a major departure is Gwilym Simcock taking what looks like a very new Nord C2 combo organ on the road. Simcock thinks compositionally, and is using the Nord not just in conventional ways -as the funk engine of a number like Heute Loiter, for example – but also to build sustained textures and to shape the music in long arcs.

Mike Walker has a vast range of tone colours and groove possibilities, and there is a constant flow of nice surprises. I was taken aback by the positivity and the crispness of Adam Nussbaum‘s drumming, that ability to settle a band into a groove and then shock them out of it – while staying in it. It was the first time I’d heard Steve Rodby live. The 13-time Graammy winning producer is not the most demonstrative of bassists, he is happy to lie low (in the compass of the instrument) and unobtrusive, but extremely subtle and always clear
and authoritative.

This was a gig to go to just for the pleasure of it, to witness four fine musiciand make the impossible look easy and effortless.