Esther Bennett - Words for Wayne Shorter

Esther Bennett

Esther Bennett - voice
Tim Lapthorn - piano,
Oli Hayhurst - bass
Flavio Li Vigni - drums
Brandon Allen - saxes

02/02/2024
Polish Cultural Centre, Posk, Jazz Café, King Street, Hammersmith
https://www.jazzcafeposk.org/

Flavio Li Vigni 

One of the great nights of originality, performance and raw creativity at Jazz Cafe POSK in Hammersmith. Singer Esther Bennett premiered her latest project, Words for Wayne Shorter, at the West London Cultural hub in front of a packed house. Created specifically for POSK, Bennett created lyrics, voice and poetry for a selection of Wayne Shorter compositions.

Oli Hayhurst 

The tunes chosen from Shorter's Blue Note period gave plenty of opportunity for Brandon Allen (saxophones), Tim Lapthorn (piano), Oli Hayhurst (double bass) and Flavio Li Vigni (drums) to shine. As well as an intertwining of likeminded musical threads from Bennett and Shorter, it was also a night of shared philosophies and existential views. What stood out most was the sheer pizzaz of Bennett, the Brummie belter had more spark than a Black Country furnace.  

Tim Lapthorn

Esther Bennett is one of the jazz scene’s most highly respected and widely loved vocalists. Her innate sense of musicality, gleaned from her earlier years of saxophone playing and study of the jazz idiom, inform a voice that has individuality, originality and flair. Bennett's debut album “Just in Time” was produced by multi award winning singer Ian Shaw and launched at London’s 606 Club in 2005. Since then, she has carved out a prestigious career as a jazz singer, performing extensively in major venues in and around London, across the country and in Europe, accompanied by some of the UK’s leading jazz musicians.

Bandon Allen

Catch more Bandon Allen at Jazz Cafe POSK in the coming weeks, when he brings his Groove Band to the venue on 23rd February 2024.

Esther Bennett 

Gary Willcox Quartet - The Archduke

Gary Willcox

Gary Willcox Quartet
Gary Willcox - drums
Stephen Main - saxophone
Ross Stanley - piano
Oli Hayhurst - bass

Ross Stanley

Date - 3rd February 2018
Venue - The Archduke, Waterloo, London, UK
Gary Wilcox Qrt on YouTube HERE

Future performance

14th July 2018 - Gary Willcox Qrt. at Swanage Jazz Fest

Oli Hayhurst

The Gary Willcox Quartet has been playing together since 2008. Each member has developed strong individuality and profile through years of experience playing with many of the UK’s leading jazz/folk artists (Iain Ballamy, Gilad Atzmon, Bobby Wellins, Brian Finnegan, Ian Shaw). They play a mixture of original material & material of some of the masters of the idiom (e.g. Charlie Parker / Wayne Shorter) , arranged for the band’s own purposes.

“A versatile band with a rich, emotive sound: three powerful yet thoughtful soloists propelled by a lively, rustling drummer, playing open, attractively airy music imbued with just the right mix of punch and wistfulness.”
Chris Parker

Stephen Main

Born in 1972 and from Shepperton, Middx, Gary Willcox started playing the drums when he was 10 years old, with encouragement from his father, himself a musician. He quickly became fascinated with the great jazz drummers Buddy Rich, Max Roach & Art Blakey and through them discovered the whole world of Jazz. In 1988 Gary started formal drum studies with renowned drum kit teacher Trevor Tomkins. Gary went on to study orchestral percussion at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Gary has been playing around UK & European jazz scene since the mid ’90’s, performing with the likes of Jim Mullen, Ian Shaw, Chris Batchelor, Chris Biscoe, Iain Ballamy, Alex Garnett.

Derek Nash - The Spark

Derek Nash

Ever since I have been drawing Jazz musicians Derek Nash has been part of my sketchbooks but this is the first time I have been able to contain this exuberant performer within this blog. It is not only words that struggle to restrain his energy but also my sketches which never do justice to a dress sense that features a lurid line in flowery shirts and stage choreography that would be more at home in a Bruce Lee film.

Within 90 seconds of his entrance at the Twickenham Jazz Club (27/02/2014) he had already treated us one of his trademark hitch kicks. Luckily I sat next to Derek Nash's beautiful wife, Beverley, for the evening and she confirmed that Nash youthful dance moves do not cause him any injury, even as he skirts close to his half century.



Alex Hutton- piano

The leg kicking opener soon became Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me" and we saw flashes of what has made Alex Hutton such a popular keys man at TJC. The perkiness of his recent engagement to singer Kate Winter saw his head bobbing between a pair of 'Harry Hill' style collars. Like virtually all piano players Hutton has an intensity in his gaze which is unnerving but his feet give us a clue to his more homely nature, as usual they were devoid of shoes while his socked feet jigged to each tune's melody.

Oli Hayhurst - Bass

 A favourite of the first set was Derek Nash's "Waltz for my father". With (bent) soprano in hand he painted us a colourful picture, this was a tableau of pure pointillist skill, like one of Seurat's Parisienne riversides. The small light dabs of Nash's saxophone taken in their entirety gave us a broad emotional vision of his father as we sat back and viewed it from a distance. Derek Nash is a closet culture vulture and in the break between sets divulged the sweet spots of a recent trip to Venice.

Asaf Sirkis - drums

"The Spark" of the night was rightfully reserved for a new tune of the same name. So new that Derek Nash crouched close to the floor, his chart just inches away from his face in The Bloomsbury's sombre lighting. It has a rolling lyrical quality that Alex Hutton exploited with a calypso breakdown which ultimately resulted in  Oli Hayyhurst's wonderful slow descent amongst the tumult. Hayhurst has an easy static style, often both eyebrow raised in inverted Vs, mirroring two gables on sturdy barn.



Kelvin Christiane - Tenor Saxophone

Even when Derek Nash is deep within a ballad he slipped in a leg kick or two, like an Uncle who can't resist blasting in a cheeky penalty past his nephew in the back garden. Asaf Sirkis on drums was the height of subtly and Mrs Nash was taken with his striking mallet work on Grover Washington's "Winelight". It's irresistible sexual beat inspired her to describe Sirkis as a "handsome Freddie Mercury".

Bobby Timmon's "Moanin" brought the tenor of Nash and TJC Maitre Kelvin Christiane together. The latter was surprisingly introspective but typically robust in his playing. He kept his eyes down, his body trapped between green and purple lights like he had been caught in a flickering Hitchcock film.

Derek Nash will forever be the scene stealer. How can you focus on anyone other than him when he not only plays his instrument with such aplomb but continuously looks like he's warming up in preparation for a football match. As well as his trademark hitch kick we were treated to the can-can leg flick, the bounce from foot to foot, a couple of knee bends and also the sweeping of his sax beside him like he was paddling a canoe against a strong current. Here's a musician who never stands still.

AL.