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| Queuing for the sold-out gig |
Soweto Kinch visited Exeter last night, playing at the Blue Vanguard jazz club with the greatest house band this side of any saxophone – the Blue Vanguard Trio – and Kinch reminded us [as do so many others visiting this venue] that jazz standards can be caressed and ignited and made as dynamically relevant as anything from the past which is inherently good and enduring.
I do think Kinch makes The Art of the Jazz Standard one of
the highest arts I have ever had the pleasure to see and hear. Covering a range
including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Billy Strayhorn [Lush Life], and concluding on a sublime
rendition of My Favourite Things that
evoked Coltrane with SK’s own independent excellence, this was a special night
of music.
A penultimate surprise was being treated to a freestyle Blue
Vanguard rap Kinch ‘found’ in four words solicited from the audience: horn, gipsy, antidisestablishmentarianism
[yeah, I know, there’s always a comedian…], and remember. Wonderful!
As ever, the BV Trio excelled: Craig Milverton with his mesmerising
runs on the keyboard, and while Al Swainger and Coach York had fair share of
the standout solos, it was their varying duets with Kinch that joined especially in the musical
memorabilia from this night.
[pics by ND]
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