Julian Siegel Quartet. On tour in England and Ireland, 28 Apr- 7 June

By londonjazz on 23 April 2024

Saxophonist and composer Julian Siegel follows up his acclaimed big band project, “Tales From The Jacquard”, with a tour of selected dates in Ireland and England – including a Ronnie Scott’s show on 17 May – for his all-star quartet featuring pianist Liam Noble, bassist Oli Hayhurst and drummer Gene Calderazzo. Feature by Phil Johnson.

L-R: Gene Calderazzo, Julian Siegel, Oli Hayhurst, Liam Noble. Photo credit Carl Hyde

What’s in a band? For Julian Siegel, who first made his name with the co-led group Partisans from 1996 onwards, it’s very nearly everything. His virtuosic solos on tenor and soprano saxophones or bass clarinet gather energy and inspiration from the playing of those around him to create intensely focused music that, to use one of the most appealing of jazz cliches, also swings like the clappers. He’s a very sensitive ballad player too, but like the most technically accomplished co-instrumentalists on the U.S. scene such as Joe Lovano or Chris Potter, who share a similar high-definition style, Siegel is an absolute master of jazz idioms who plays as hard and as fast as you could wish for.

As someone who came into maturity at a time when there was already a number of very accomplished tenor sax players on the scene, Siegel has also had to create a particular musical identity for himself. “Maybe the best thing is just to make your own sound”, he says. “I just try to make the best sound I can each day and try to be ready for the gig! Of course I’ve got lots of influences and I try to check things out from the history of the music as much as possible to learn more. But I think being part of a band with its particular combination of musical personalities takes the music into a different direction each time we play, and that’s very exciting to be part of.”

The band in question is Siegel’s present quartet, which he’s been leading since 2010, and who also formed the rhythm section for the ‘Tales From The Jacquard’ Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra. As quartets go, this is a precision engineered machine of very high quality, capable of investing his compositions with a real improvisatory, off the cuff, sense of risk and discovery. It’s a kind of superstar aggregation, too, composed of some of the most inventive and hard-swinging players around. Liam Noble, a sometime contributor to LJN, is a pianist with an expert sense of structure who is able to change rhythmic emphasis at the drop of a hat, coupled with a seemingly limitless flow of imaginative ideas for improvisation, to be played either within the ensemble or as a valued soloist. Together with the irresistible, hyper-animated drumming of Gene Calderazzo, he provides the engine of the group, aided by Oli Hayhurst’s empathetic presence on double bass, who both anchors the sound and propels its forward momentum with a sure sense of groove.

For Siegel, the upcoming tour is an opportunity to play to new audiences who may not have seen the group before, and also to showcase his latest compositions. “It offers the chance to play some new music especially written for the quartet for this tour, on the road for the first time, plus favourites from our most recent album ‘Vista’, he says. But the main attraction, as always, is the band. “I’m really excited to see which way the music will go each night. I think with the combination of players in the Quartet, the music could go in any direction and it’s very thrilling to be part of that. Plus I’m really looking forward to just playing with the band so much in such a short period of time. Can’t wait!”