Music Is To Blame: EFG Jazz Festival Brings the World to London

Think of a music festival and you might imagine a stage in a field with tents scattered around. You might imagine a rock venue with a dozen acts across the weekend. You might even imagine the immense scale of Glastonbury, which is still fundamentally all taking place in one venue.

What if a music festival could take over a whole city?

What if music venues ranging from small intimate spaces to world class concert halls could be brought together into one ambitious event spanning 10 days and presenting over 300 shows?

And what if that visionary experience all revolved around one genre of music – jazz?

Jazz might well be the most misunderstood and misrepresented musical genre of all. Stereotypes of beatniks in the style of French philosophers musing over minor chord progressions and the advantages of the cor anglais over the clarinet are of course a parody of a genre which is broader than you might imagine and twice as deep. Jazz has worked its way into just about every other form of music, its freedom to improvise and juxtapose enabling musicians to throw off the shackles of traditional compositional dogma.

It would be impossible to review the totality of an undertaking such as the EFG London Jazz Festival so instead, here’s a more manageable selection to give a flavour. The performers and styles on offer across the festival span the full range of what constitutes Jazz. From America’s deep South to the stylish East Coast, across Europe, to Africa and beyond. From classical influences to Mardi Gras and from one man shows to big bands, it’s the biggest pan-city music festival in Europe, now in its 32^nd run since it was created by music producers Serious in 1992.

The Edwardian opulence of Cadogan Hall is the first stop on this world tour of jazz, where the David Gordon Trio launched their new album ‘Pachyderm’ in addition to hinting at what might come next. David Gordon is an established classical artist as well as a jazz musician, his wide experience showing through in the rich melodies emerging from the distinctly jazz blending of piano, bass and percussion. A quietly attentive audience filled the venue, the ornate stained glass windows and parlour palms creating the perfect backdrop to a stylish, laid back afternoon presentation.

Onwards to a very different type of opulence, the art deco Parisien chic of Brasserie Zedel’s performance space, Crazy Coqs. In the style of a familiar jazz club, the red velvet curtains, French cafe style chairs and candlelit tables create a powerful intimacy. Zedel’s staff float around effortlessly, bringing drinks to the tables as an impressive range of performers captivate, mesmerise and thrill in equal measure.

Emilia Mårtensson & Matt Robinson front a small, tight, strong band, their soaring tumble of notes in a precisely controlled blend of Western jazz, folk, romance and even nursery rhymes. At times, powerful and piercing and at times hauntingly beautiful as saxophonist Adam Waldmann joined the line-up. Emilia’s singing and Adam’s soprano saxophone were so perfectly matched that their tones blended together into a single, unified voice creating the most gorgeous soundscape.

Mathis Picard was next up at Crazy Coqs, his distinctly New York flavour of European jazz piano morphing into something more as the piano played its part first as a keyboard, then as a string instrument and then as a percussion instrument. Debussy merged into Duke Ellington as the mood and the pace shifted from delicate to frenetic. This was jazz on an intimately grand scale. ‘Inner Child’ was a mesmerising, vivid journey through the adult’s rediscovery of childhood, there was an audience singalong and finally a return to the style known as Harlem stride for a very welcome encore.

The radio station One Jazz featured hosts Chris Philips and Jez Nelson broadcasting live from The Jazz Social pop up venue throughout the festival, featuring a variety of interviews, special guests and live performances. Ahead of the Barbican show ‘Take Me to the River All-Stars: A Celebration of New Orleans Music’, filmmaker Martin Shore stopped by with New Orleans jazz royalty Cyril Neville, Omari Neville and Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. of the Wild Magnolias to share some Mardi Gras heat on a chilly autumn day. DJ Kate Pieroudis interviewed the trio who then gave a live performance with Dollis in his full Mardi Gras suit complete with feathers, sequins and native embellishments. It was an interesting perspective on an event which looks externally like a fun filled carnival but which Dollis described more as a ritual of gang warfare which had evolved from violence into a competition to be the prettiest.

On to Pizza Express Live’s jazz club in Soho for The Kielan Sheard Trio who showcased their concept of ‘Three as One’ through original compositions. A finalist for BBC ‘Young Jazz Musician of the Year 2020’, the show featured Kielan playing the electric bass as the lead voice in the trio, pushing the instrument into its upper registers for an interesting, rounded jazz funk sound.

Back to Crazy Coqs for Gary Crosby Quartet presents MONK!, a varied, energetic, fun packed tour through the work of one of the most original musicians in American history, Thelonious Monk. Crosby’s jovial humour made the show as entertaining in between the music as during and the packed house joined in with his aim to ‘sanctify’ the music, to pay homage to an artist that he clearly has quite some reverie for.

In Crosby’s words, “Monk led from the front, pushing in new directions, and driving new musical panoramas. For Monk, there was no imitation… it was all innovation. He took traditional 12-bar structures to new levels. Musically, he is the point where the blues meets Bartók. He wasn’t afraid of silence; he lived inside his music, and his recordings still have the power to take you to places you have never been before. He was unique. There can never be another Monk… let’s celebrate him!”

Just when it looked like Crazy Coqs couldn’t get any busier or livelier, along came the late show with Soothsayers featuring Akin Soul. Soothsayers describe their sound as “afrobeat and jazz grooves” which in practice translated into an intense, upbeat, energetic, complex delivery of what was essentially reggae at times, morphing into Latin with infectious rhythms that got the audience on their feet, dancing as wildly as the space would allow. Jazz staples such as ‘Rat Race’ punctuated the joyful energy with something darker, more urban and hard hitting. Soothsayers run a free music project in South London called Youthsayers which helps young people develop their musical skills and life skills through ensemble work and live performances. Singer Akin Soul was a product of that project and was a worthy addition to the line-up.