Lydian Collective - High 555

Sophie Alloway

Lydian Collective
Aaron ‘Lazslo’ Wheeler - keys
Todd Baker - guitar
Ida Hollis - bass
Sophie Alloway - drums

5th December 2018
Jazz Café, Camden, London, UK

Aaron Wheeler

Lydian Collective support jazz legend Bill Cobham at Camden's throbbing live spot the Jazz Café. Unveiling a new single 'High 555' and building on the success of their debut album ‘Adventure’, (which has generated over 1 million album streams on Spotify in just 6 months).

Their debut album helped to put them firmly on the map of the instrumental Jazz Funk Fusion scene, and leading onto recent appearances at festivals such as Cheltenham Jazz, ‘So What’s Next’ Festival in The Netherlands, Cambridge Jazz Festival and plays on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction show; as well as features on Spotify’s ‘The State of Jazz’ and ‘Fusion Fest’ playlists.

Todd Baker

After the intricate and rhythmically complex ‘Adventure’ album, they have now shifted gears on this single with a hi-octane stomping four to the floor danceable fun and funky groove, led by a juicy distorted synth bass line!

Ida Hollis

‘High 555’ takes the listener through the usual compositional twists and turns that have made Lydian Collective tunes so popular, but this time the focus is on a solid groove to get the body moving! This single is available here https://lydiancollective.bandcamp.com/album/high-555 and will be part of an EP, which is due to be released in Spring next year.

Jon Allen - Rivulets and fountains

Jon Allen

Although he describes himself as a musical outsider, Jon Allen is anything but this. His ethos of being true to his ideals and a belief in his own musical journey override any desire to conform. This puts him squarely inside the embrace of most music lovers. His gig at the Jazz Café in Camden late last month (28/10/2014) was so eclectic it represented what many of us feel and experience in our everyday lives.


John E Vistic

Here he was sharing the music from his most recent album, Deep River (Monologue Records) rather than merely promoting it. He didn't just lay it before us in his shop window but took our metaphorical inside-leg measurement in a tailor made performance.

The night started with the honest narratives of John E Vistic. He was joined on stage by Katey Brooks for 'Long Time Gone'. Unfortunately I didn't get the opportunity to draw the tempting shoulders and deep dark eyes of this Bristolian singer.

Stuart Ross - Bass

Jon Allen was obviously the captain of the ship on stage, breaking the waves before us but he was no figurehead. It was an even handed night where the music did the talking and his band played their part in equal measure. During the night's opener he had a laconic and easy manner, with head tilted back and eyes closed, he shut out the audience in deep concentration. Soon Allen felt at home and his eyes opened, although they always hid behind a curtained fringe.

Rich Milner - Keys

By the time the second tune 'Night & Day' was put to bed you were already aware of his fellow musicians. The most striking of which was bassist Stuart Ross who appeared on The Who's 2006 album 'Endless Wire' amongst many others. Musically guitarist Simon Johnson caught the ear particularly on the album's title track 'Deep River'.

Tim Bye - drums

Again and again it was the keyboard of Rich Milner that took the groove and plaudits. He was instantly lickable on 'Sweet defeat', I would even go as far to suggest he was more effervescent than a sherbet fountain. The juices flowed again before long, and even rolled down the chins of the audience on 'Get what's mine' which was meatier than a slow cooked joint. Milner gave us the groove while Tim Bye (drums) was the buoyancy, the cool.

Simon Johnson - guitar

The eclecticism of Allen's talents were obvious in the light and beautiful 'Lady of the water'. It would be obvious to comment upon it's ephemeral nature with musical motifs like rivulets. It would be more accurate to describe it as a new sapling. The green wood of the song bent in our hands and like Jon Allen's music wound around our emotions.

AL.

Elijah Ford and father Marc

Elijah Ford

You don't often get the chance to see a son challenge his father's reputation during a performance but that is what happened at London's Jazz Café last month (22/04/2014) as Marc Ford kicked off his 'Holy Ghost' tour. I am sure it was with the blessing and encouragement of his 'guvnor' that Elijah Ford emerged from the metaphorical shadows despite the family duo both lurking in the meagre lighting at the venue.

Stew Jackson

It is difficult to define a Marc Ford crowd, just as it is to sketch him in a room packed with bodies eager to see their hero. There were plenty of beards, some short, long and some thick, there was even one you could only categorise as Metro Hillbilly. There was tracksuited couple in matching outfits and a group of 7 or 8 Mods that looked like The Small Faces had just stepped out of a time machine.

Marc Ford

Elijah Ford opened in the support spot and was soon swallowed into the belly of his father's group, like Jonah in the whale. His voice rang true throughout the two hours and his vocal expression and lyrics were complex and mature. His is currently making an album with Stew Jackson who swelled the ranks alongside the other members of Phantom Limb for young Ford's final tune 'Blessing'.

Stew Jackson it seems has fingers in plenty of pies, as producer and musician but on this occasion they strayed from guitar to the more prone pedal steel. He was not the only one to change instruments and this was a constant theme throughout the evening with both Andy Lowe and Elijah Ford showing their versatility.

Matt Brown - drums

For the uninitiated it was hard to find the path that would reach Marc Ford's musical summit. So while I waited for my epiphany I concentrated on the man in the shadows. Ford Senior looks like he has seen some battles, with a manly check to his shirt and a face so rugged it looks like it could chop wood for the fire with a mere glance. During the early stages of his set his lyrics were too simplistic to gather me into his fold but there were strands of melancholy and narrative that piqued the mind.

Andy Lowe

"Dancing Shoes" was the turning point, it's slow drive and drawl could have ended with more frustration until I realised that it was speed that was my key, or rather the lack of it. Here were a set of tunes so easy and plumb you could chew on them like a sweet sticky pudding. The pace did pick up and there was even a soufflé bounce in the following "Blue Sky" which saw guitarist Luke Cawthra wipe the sweat of his bald pate with one big sweep of a forearm like a swipe of a monster truck's windscreen wiper.

Elijah Ford remained the most animated and interesting figure on stage, the others sported a deadpan demeanour that was Fargo-esque in its lack of emotion. "Turquoise Blue" brought out the best lyrically between the father and son combo, where their vocals rubbed against each other, sending out delicious splinters into the audience.

Luke Cawthra

I admit it took an age to cast off the hustle and bustle of a life lived in London's stressful flow. It was therefore symbolic that "I'm Free" was the moment when the weight lifted and at last I knew, that this music was less homogeneous than the plethora of checked shirts on stage would make you think. "Sometimes" brought a very healthy response from the London crowd that has propelled the tour through dates in Belgium, Holland and Germany.

In the following weeks Ford is destined to conquer a large part of Spain with dates in Madrid (10th May) and Pamplona (15th May) being standouts. It is a shame that he will be too early to lock horns with the famous Pamplona bulls, because even these ferocious beasts would mellow to the sound of Marc Ford and his talented offspring.

AL.

Get The Blessing - Antimatters

Jim Barr - Bass

Black suited, white shirts, focussed demeanours, they meant business in their own oblique kind of way. Get The Blessing launched their fourth album 'Lope and Antilope' at the Jazz Café earlier this month (05/03/2014). The healthy throb of the audience was as black (attired) and thick (in numbers) as Jim Barr's lush beard. Darkened even further by the gothic wonder of EYOT who had played moments before in support.

Clive Deamer
Drums

It was a long list of 14 tunes that ebbed and flowed throughout the night, the fluidity of the performance being it's strongest theme. Amongst me there were a few who were disappointed that they entered without flame coloured cellophane masks. This malaise was quickly dispelled by a disorientating journey through unpredictable compositions and pulsing beats.



Jake McMurchie -
Saxophones

The Bass spoke loudest on the opening exchanges, the second 'Antilope' let us descend into the depths and Jim Barr was a dominant figure despite alternating in and out of the shadows. He is every inch a villainous looking figure, the most gangsterish of the quartet, if he was to add a few inches to the waistband and wear a scarlet cummerbund he would be legendary Albert Spica of Thief, Cook, Wife, Lover fame. Although I imagine he does not thrust forks into women's faces or his enemies into dog faeces.

Pete Judge - Trumpet

The third tune heralded a theme like a Spy Thriller and the saxophone of Jake McMurchie caught the imagination as though he had pushed Lalo Shifrin down a set of steep stairs. Whodunnit? It was McMurchie, and again on 'Quiet' and impressively during a buzzing 'Low Earth Orbit' with it's pulsating roll against an exotic landscape.


Clive Deamer was straight and powerful throughout and was hard to capture on paper despite being the fulcrum, rhythmically and physically (on stage) for the music to rise.

Adrian Utley - Guitar

Adrian Utley immediately made an impression when he was introduced for the fourth tune but it was the subsequent 'Luposcope' where he bowed his way into the audiences psyche. The result was a hollowness that was as attractive and compelling as a seaside town out of season. Secrets discovered when alone can sometimes be the most deeply felt. Even though I stood next to jazz-man Steve Marchant and introduced myself to three McMurchie groupies Rachel, Julia and Jacqui it was very much a voyage of introspection and for losing oneself in the folds of Get The Blessing's warping melodies.

John Hegley - Poet/Narration

Before I disappear up my own arse let me cling onto something much more tangible. Past the night's halfway point Get The blessing were joined onstage by poet John Hegley who musically narrated 'Alphabetically Disorder', complete with dance moves that Basil Fawlty must have practiced before the mirror in his youth. The incongruity of Hegley's witty words and the aforementioned choreography against GTB's moody loops was delicious.

Going by Get The Blessing's performance, 'Lope and Antilope' will provide us simply with the space and the process that catches the mind. Not easily digestible in one night and worth more than one sitting, it needs to be heard and to be given the chance to fire the imagination.

AL.

EYOT - Gothic wonder & darkness

Dejan Ilijic - keys

The shortness of this review reflects just the 40 minutes afforded to us at the Jazz Café earlier this month (05/03/2014) to absorb the Serbian raiders EYOT.

Marko Stojiljkovic - bass

The dark stage was punctuated in pools of purple light and it suited this four piece who were spread wide in the crepuscular atmosphere. With just four tunes to pin both my sketches and impressions I will dispense with long annotations of the compositions themselves and start directly with EYOT's spokesman. The stubbled Dejan Ilijic was often stooped in the shadows as he hunched over his keyboard. His dark handsome aura was very much reflected in the music, which was as powerful as his ox like shoulders. His driving piano interposed with melodic loops created much of the levity in EYOT's performance. Those of us who occupied the front rows, and I stood next to legendary Jazz-face Steve Marchant, felt the bellyache vocal murmurs of Ilijic in our very guts. Without amplification these base rumbles created a background wave of humanity amongst the sea of electronica.

Sladjan Milenovic - guitar

There were large sections of the set that were dominated by the guitars of Sladjan Milenovic and Marko Stojiljkovic. These led to an air of cutting and rasping penetration. Despite his stature or maybe because of it Stojiljkovic played with head  bowed, it lifted and nodded repeatedly like one of the humorous dogs in the rear window of a car. In contrast Milos Vojvodic lifted his into the air, his long face rising above his drum kit as though savouring a sweet smell.

Milos Vojvodic - drums

The overall effect of EYOT was a balancing act between heavy looped motifs and playful melodies. There was a real force behind them, driving like a battering ram at times, it swept to and fro, with a rhythm that was reflected in their final tune's Balkan beat. It was modern medieval jazz, raw and uncut in the main with flashes of sophisticated beauty, like being transfixed by the hidden complexities of a gargoyle whilst standing in the shadow of a gothic cathedral. Wonder and darkness.

AL.