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Billy Hart at Pizza Express Dean Street, January 2015 Photo Credit: Paul Wood |
(Pizza Express Dean Street. 12th January 2015. Review by Brian Blain)
OK, so it was a rainy,cold Monday night in early January, but it does make you think about the mind-set of the London jazz crowd,when they can virtually ignore the presence of a legend, drummer Billy Hart, who has worked with Hancock, Getz, Brecker, Lovano, Mulligan, Lloyd and countless greats, from the Sixties onwards. Honestly, the Pizza Express in Dean Street should have been packed out last week for the appearance of UK trumpet master Damon Brown’s International Quintet which also boasted the presence of Jesse Davis, the burning altoist, originally from New Orleans, whose biting sound and long tumbling melodic lines, laden with soul, made me think about what it must have been like listening to Charlie Parker in person. And I don’t mean regurgitating old licks, but that magic quality of the sheer presence of a saxophone master.
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Jesse Davis at Pizza Expres Dean Street Jan 2015 Photo credit: Paul Wood |
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Martin Zenker at Pizza Express Dean Street Jan 2015 Photo Credit: Paul Wood |
All this, and a glorious Stars Fell on Alabama – Damon always likes to throw in a Bunny Berigan-like standard in contrast to all the other truly hip stuff- caused me to reflect on what a great Festival band this would be. Only the third date on a short English tour,followed by six in Germany, and it was already sounding every bit as together as a much more permanent collection of talents.
Categories: miscellaneous
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