Monocled Man - We Drift Waterloo

Rory Simmons

Monocled Man
Rory Simmons​ ​- trumpet​, f​lugelhorn​, ​keyboards​, ​guita​r, ​electronics
Chris Montague​ ​- guitar
Jon Scott​ ​- drums​, ​electronics
Emilia Mårtensson​ ​- vocals
Ed Begley​ ​- vocals

Date - 27th October 2016
Venue - Jazz Nursery, Waterloo, London, UK
Current Album - We Drift Meridian (Whirlwind Recordings, 2016)

Jon Scott

The minute islands and atolls amidst the vastness of our world’s oceans provide intriguing inspiration for Monocled Man’s second album, We Drift Meridian – a concept devised by trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist and composer Rory Simmons. With established colleagues Chris Montague (electric guitar) and Jon Scott (drums/electronics), plus vocal contributions from Emilia Mårtensson and Ed Begley, Simmons layers-up haunting electronic and acoustic soundscapes which reflect the remoteness and sometimes curious histories and characters associated with these far-flung, isolated spaces.

Chris Montague

Monocled Man’s cinematic beds of sound, carefully crafted with modular synths, sequencers and chopped audio, are all fashioned into an expansive framework which provides a springboard for individual artistry. Chris Montague’s characteristically oblique guitar style and Jon Scott’s hard-hitting, sparky drumming – both of which are unwaveringly inventive – join with Simmons’ plaintive trumpet in generating these appropriately drifting, searching panoramas.

Ed Begley

'Tromelin' (a small, uninhabited sandbank island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, with a history of shipwrecks and abandoned slaves) is depicted by electronic call signs, dramatic percussion and forlorn trumpet riffs, whilst 'Deception Island' bubbles with electronic vigor and Ed Begley’s punky vocals.

Emilia Mårtensson

One of the most eery island tales – interpreted in both Scott Moorman Adrift and Fiction Afloat – recalls when a 17ft whaler, with a crew of five, went missing off Hawaii. Several years later, a small, Hawaii-registered boat was discovered on atoll Taongi, 2,000 miles away… and a shallow grave alongide revealed a human jawbone which was matched to crew member Scott Moorman’s dental records. Such bizarre, aching hopelessness is represented by chiming repetition, seabird-calling trumpet and, later, Mårtensson’s and Begley’s intertwined vocals which speak of history becoming immortalised in stories.

AL.

Ant Law & Iza Turska - Zero Sum World

Front cover - Zero Sum World, Ant Law

Whether we look into a dystopian future or it's past, you can't help but teeter on the verge of discovery when you experience Ant Law's imminent release (16th Feb 2015) on Whirlwind Recordings. As ever here at AOJ we like to delve into both the music and the art that represents it visually. The artist who has drawn her inspiration from Law's new album, Zero Sum World, is the multi-talented Iza Turska. She has form with Law for it is she who created the artwork for Entanglement, his debut album in 2013.

Iza Turska

It is unsurprisingly that Iza Turska has handled Zero Sum World with such skill, she originally trained in both Product Design (BA) and Graphic Design, Painting, Drawing, Ceramics (MA) at the Wroclaw Academy of Fine Arts in Poland. The buildings we see before us on the album cover have withstood a blast that has raised the surrounding landscape to mere scattered particles. An underground world is revealed and Man metaphorically stands above the abyss. Yet there is hope, for where there is a ladder, there is the opportunity to climb up as well as down. The choice is ours.

Initial idea for Zero Sum World
copyright of Iza Turska/Ant Law

The image was developed gradually, starting off with a portfolio of ideas and styles. Iza Turska was inspired by the music itself and the title/concept behind it.  Then it was a matter of honing what they liked with a few chosen ideas being fleshed out into more powerful statements. Eventually it was the combination of shadows against the stony backdrop and warm earthy buildings that caught the discerning eye.

Ant Law explains, "We wanted the concept to come across as far as is possible without it being too obvious. I was toying with much more apocalyptic ideas too. If you listen to the title track (track one) it builds from very very sparse to total chaos and then disintegrates, which has an apocalyptic vibe. I actually was influenced heavily by Vijay Iyer's “Because Of Guns” piece."



2nd phase idea for Zero Sum World
copyright of Iza Turska/Ant Law

The title comes from the “Zero Sum Game” in mathematics (Law himself was a scholar in Physics at Edinburgh University): when the total number of points belonging to the winner added to that of the loser equals zero. As such in a zero sum world no one can profit without someone else's loss.

The music on his new release was recorded immediately after an extensive 29 date UK tour and a brief sojourn to Brazil. His band features four guiding lights in British contemporary music: Ivo Neame (piano), James Maddren (drums), Michael Chillingworth (​multiple reeds​) and Tom Farmer (bass).
Check out the official promo video for Zero Sum World - http://youtu.be/MESU1nqV1jU
The album already has a 4 star recommendation from Marlbank.

The album's 7th track, “Triviophobia” is about not taking things too seriously, in particular the arts, and especially music. It is therefore admirable that Ant Law has chosen the artwork of Iza Turska to represent his music. She treads a tightrope with his concepts, quite possibly with the serious battles we face ahead, but it is done with a simplicity in mind. It is an idea. Just one simple idea to start the thinking process.

AL.

​

String Theory - Recording Partikel's 3rd Album

Duncan Eagles - Tenor Saxophone

Partikel are back and they are embarking upon a new venture. This is a third album with a difference for the London based trio who have made a name for themselves with their spikey brand of barebones Jazz. I was luckily enough to be invited to the Real World Studio near Bath to experience this latest incarnation. The step up for the Trio was the result of hard graft from tenacious frontman Duncan Eagles alongside the generous support of Arts Council Funding and their record label Whirlwind Recordings.

Shirley Smart -
Cello

Over the past 18 months Partikel have started to experiment with Strings. At first is was the Cello in private but soon they 'came out' with a very strong public performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer last June. Now it seems this addiction has taken over, not only a cello greeted me at the studio when I arrived on the 4th February 2014 but also a viola and 2 violins. The Jazz trio had fallen for the String Quartet and their lovechild was soon to be born.

Jose Tomaz Gomes

Real World is a much larger studio than the cosy Clown Pocket variety that Partikel are used to and they spread out accordingly. A massive horseshoe mixing desk occupies half of the Big Room, which is like a crepuscular cavern. Red light, square dots, blue, green and Venetian red dials, large whites with black rings, some jump left some right, 4 banks of zeros, 11 sets of ones, 2 twos, 6 threes and at the end of the desk another lonely zero. The engineer in control of this spaceship console is José Tomaz Gomes. A dark and gentle figure who will be our guide for the next two days.



Max Luthert - Bass

Max Luthert sets the early bass bounce on first tune 'Wray Common' with a triple trot and I feel the old pathos running through me, they are back! The meadow richness is not just present in the view from the studio window across Peter Gabriel's land but also in Eagles' tenor tone that opens up a musical panorama. These glimpses of gentle colour are truncated as we glimpse the saxophone's vistas from between rocks or gaptoothed  trees. This is followed by a gentle decent, past the warm bass undergrowth, as downy as Luthert's beard. There is the merest scent of a wild animal in these woods as the Quartet's strings run like veins across this landscape, with a dark taint they ooze a bone meal overflow. Duncan Eagles is freewheeling now as he rattles downhill and reaches the bottom with a final expulsion of breath.



Helen Sanders-Hewett
Viola

A big nod of the head sees the musicians tumble into 'Midnight Mass', Max Luthert desperately clings to the melody, his eyes as dark as chocolate minstrels and his left hand is like a claw. It is a cascading dancing tune with strokes of soporific beauty. Luthert is what we cling to, a grip on the bedstead before the last rattling call before the song ends. I hear the voice of Helen Sanders-Hewett (viola) through my headphones as she just says the word 'lush'.

Benet Mclean
Violin

The strings start to make their presence known, and amongst the quartet is a familiar face with an unfamiliar instrument in his hands. Benet Mclean is a polymath. We know Mclean as the dexterous piano player, composer and singer but it seems he is a violinist of some talent too. In fact over our dinner meal he tells me of his love of cricket and his prowess as a bowler/batsman for Middlesex youth sides. An all-rounder in every sense of the word he wasn't afraid to go it alone with a spirited solo on the next tune. This time I hear Shirley Smart's (Cello) voice in the post performance lull.
"Burning!"

Left to right
Benet Mclean, Max Luthert, Duncan Eagles, Shirley Smart & Helen Sanders-Hewett

'One in Five' is the tune of the day so far. Benet Mclean was both imposing in my headphones and in reality, with his brooding intense demeanour you sometime you feel you are in the presence of an off duty Lenin. His solo was a tightrope walk, cutting and gritty while Duncan Eagles was flighty and fluid on Soprano saxophone. The tune starts with deep footsteps and then a fantastic twist like a child on a swing who has entwined the chain-linked ropes together in a centrifugal dare of vomit inducing proportions. The overall effect is one of a fable, a narrative where the musicians are characters in a adventure book, a world of building dams in streams and then knocking them down in the twilight before bedtime.



Richard Jones - Violin

I hear Mclean in upbeat mood, he shouts out "Lets go! give me the downbeat bro" as we wade into the next tune and the hours of twilight.  If you think you've heard 'The River' before you are not alone. It was one of the tracks on their debut album and here it was being given the full 'strings 'treatment'. It now has a full slide of green variegated shoots to accompany it and yet it still flows in those curled sweeps where the current takes you under the overhanging trees, through the deathly shadows and out the other side. With the accompanying strings there now exists a dragonfly that swoops above the water, alone at first but then joined by its own reflection. A parallel ballet with swoops and plummeting where the insect dances with its life. This is now a tussle between wind, water and Fate.

Dan Redding

Not everything was flowing smoothly it seems. I noticed Duncan Eagles shake his head in tiredness and frustration. In the early days of the collaboration between Partikel and their strings Eagles admits he was on a very steep learning curve. He has written all but one of the tunes on Partikel's three albums, but the addition of strings alongside saxophone, bass and drums was step into the unknown. Since then he has honed this skill and expectations have risen. As we entered the late hours it appeared that the results of the collaboration weren't reaching their intended pinnacle. He shook his head, looked at me and said "It's taking too long."

The arrival of the jazz filmmaker Dan Redding pepped up the troops and he regaled us all with anecdotes and witty quips before overdosing on red wine and eventually petering out.

Eric Ford - Drums

To wake oneself up you have to enter the lions den and I sketched Partikel's idiosyncratic drummer Eric Ford for the final recorded tune, 'Shimmer'. My attention was first taken by Max Luthert who danced a little jig throughout the recording, beating time from one foot to the other. He was a like a Eadweard Muybridge horse, with both feet in the air simultaneously but impossible to prove that fact unless you captured him photographically.

It was another impressive compositional performance from Duncan Eagles with Eric Ford providing the trotting and galloping rhythms. The sentiments 'Shimmer' evoked were far from the drizzling reality outside in the west country landscape. Here was a positivity, a modern anthem, a jazz folk equivalent to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I felt like taking Eric Ford out on a carousel of English Country dances along the Mendip Hills, arm in arm we would square dance until the sun came up. Luckily I though better of it, after all I was sharing a mezzanine floor with Ford tonight and I didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

AL.

I will be writing up Day 2 of the recording shortly....

Michael Janisch & Aruan Ortiz - Whirlwind Maestros

Michael Janisch - Bass

It was the final throws of a heavy few days but every hour had been worth my undivided attention. Not every Whirlwind Festival gig had been sketched but still 13 in three days is worthy of a little fanfare. Its incomprehensible what organiser and record boss Michael Janisch must have endured but if you gamble big then I suppose the rewards are significant. This was the end and the beginning. The Saturday night 10pm (12/10/2013) slot brought it to a close while audiences and musicians alike left King's Place dreaming of what to expect in 2014.

Aruan Oritz - Piano

There was a serious no talking, no shit attitude to the last curtain finale. Seriously no anecdotes, very unlike a normal jazz concert. I believe there wasn't even one reference to a CD being on sale, which as you might know is de rigueur for journeymen and bright jazz sparks alike.

Greg Osby - Saxophone

Here there was an energy between the players as if they were held together by Nature's bond. Not too close though, mutual respect helped keep a healthy distance but you could feel the invisible force. Co-leader, Aruan Oritz  of course could survey from his poop deck, ducking the right shoulder when the storm wave from the quintet hit his piano.

Mark Ayza - Drums

Greg Osby by comparison barely flinched in the face of the night's peak and troughs. Gabardined in a tight Burberry and matching trilby he rivalled a stylish Shaft in style and power. Sparse doesn't do his performance justice but there was a streamlined directness and penetration that achieved its goal with the minimum of fuss.

Raynald Colom - Trumpet

Insert a section that describes the texture of the tunes and their themes it says on the label before me. That rule book went out the window when I started this Whirlwind odyssey, and this last gig was one that just washed over this storm battered man. Now two and half weeks later my gig notes are surprisingly absent but I remember the entertaining figure of Mark Ayza. He is becoming one of my favourites to draw. Never a muppet on drums but it seems one in my sketches. If his hair was a shock of orange then he would have unmistakably transformed into Beaker, the shy laboratory assistant.

Stephen Jay - Photographer

It was a night of hats and Raynald Colom's had an air of Shemp Howard with its comic air. These lips were not made for smiling though and Colom took his shift as the figurehead of this fighting ship frequently. A mature and inspiring set that propelled Colom to the fore early on with "Precisely Now", followed by "Please Stand By" and Osby with his directness.

Dan Redding

As if in harmony with the third tune "Orbiting" I quickly took a final sweep around the auditorium as I perched in its upper tier. Amongst the off-duty musicians there was Stephen Jay, Dan Redding and Steve Pringle, still photographing and filming. I imagine their films are still uncurling in editing suites throughout south London, slowly being sifted and honed.

This isn't a festival that talks solely of promise, it is ready for consumption now! Virtually all the musicians were at the top of their games, in the prime of their young lives and full of ideas for the year to come. Yes the future is significant, with a 12 month gestation period before us it is going to be some 2014 for the Whirlwind Record label and its flagship Festival.

Viva "The Maestro", their final tune.

AL.

Andre Canniere - The Thin Man

Andre Canniere - Trumpet

A cocktail of fate and a heavy work load means I'm fortunate enough to be writing this on the day of Andre Canniere's latest CD release "Coalescence". It was just over 2 weeks ago (12/10/2013) that we heard him launch his latest offering at the cutting-edge Whirlwind Festival. This was a concert of the highest standing, especially in Whirlwind record boss Michael Janisch's eyes, for Canniere and his band occupied the penultimate berth of the 3 day festival journey.

Ryan Treblicock -
Bass

There are those personas that you instantly feel an affiliation to, and Andre Canniere is one of these. What he lacks in razzledazzle he makes up for in thoughtfulness, and with a lanky elegance he is The Thin Man rather than a Sam Spade in demeanour. There is a wholesome louchness if that makes sense, like a modern day Dashiell Hammett antihero who is a determined trawler of society's trashcan, unearthing the evidence of venal weaknesses. I do not know whether he is a champion of the underdog but I suspect he could rally us mongrels with his depth of song and mind.

Hannes Riepler - guitar

Like a card player Canniere laid the album before us in a rising straight, "Sweden Hill" ascended slowly but accelerated along the fast switchbacks on trumpet. He won another hand with a flair of hip Hispania on "Gibbs and East" and finished by playing a supporting role on "Nylon" in clustering statics. Here he was joined by the bootleg guitar of Hannes Riepler, in hindsight, a warm up for the later "Point Zero" where Riepler was absolutely outstanding. Representing the sexy allure of the gun, the desire for control and power that is the 'high' of the firearm. If this protest song has the Newtown shootings at its heart, then the guitar was its flexing muscle and the trumpet our conscience.



Ivo Neame - Piano & Accordion

Ivo Neame held the placard high with an absorbing contribution on the fourth tune 'Gaslands', where Canniere's block capital letters were written in a 12 inch font, shouting 'NO TO FRACKING'. Neame's language was not a yell in contrast, his protest was longing and lost which created a wandering, powerful sentiment.

Dave Hamblett - Drums

It is the measure of the group that on this occasion the drumming member of Day 2's Whirlwind Supergroup, Dave Hamblett' was relegated to modest displays of valour, dowsing mere burning buildings rather than saving the world from certain destruction.

Andre Canniere is a valuable addition to our music scene here, our Thin Man has sprouted new shoots beside The Thames far from his American roots. Hopefully he will be here for years to come and swapping "Sweden Hill" for our more modest Richmond variety.

AL.

Check out "Coalescence" at Whirlwind HQ.

Zhenya Strigalev - Centrifugal kookiness

Zhenya Strigalev - Alto Saxophone

If this writing takes a surreal turn then forgive me, for it is neither an over exuberance of peyote nor an attack of the Dali's but in truth an exposure to the radioactive world of Zhenya Strigalev that has infected my brain. It you haven't ever experienced the Strigalev phenomena then lets say he is idiosyncratic and well worth dipping your soldiers in his soft boiled egg.



Mark Lewandowski - Bass

Joining him on stage during the final session (12/10/2013) of the Whirlwind festival was Jason Yarde, Ben Brown and Mark Lewandowski. The latter already taking a turn at the Kings Place on Rachael Cohen's album launch the previous day. He played the straight man to his leaders goon, puffing out both cheeks and raising an eyebrows or two because of the unpredictable shifts of music and Strigalev's opening monologues.



Ben Brown - Drums

Yes the bright and vibrant Zhenya Strigalev puts the kook into his opening tune "Cuckoo". His saxophonic diction like a rapid chatterbox who had just left the asylum. In the spirit of the man I jumped into his world with both feet, but others were more circumspect. Maybe it the nature of the beast that those in the eye of the Whirlwind remain calm. Ben Brown on drums is one who displayed remarkable restraint. He has a poetic delicate balance and bounce with sticks in hand.


Jason Yarde - Saxophones

"Unlimited Source of Pleasure" and Zhenya Strigalev's final tune were marmite watersheds for many in the audience but as an artist this was the sort of performance that butters my bread. Strigalev is thick and winding like a yoyo unravelling in slow motion, Jason Yarde joins him on stage, freewheeling, breaking apart, a whirling explosion of centrifugal jazz. Yarde is now the mechanic, building , fixing as Strigalev breaks, rolling his neck like an athlete, even jogging on the spot.

Despite the entrance of Sebastian Scotney with his vaudeville hook nothing is going to stop Zhenya Strigalev and his quartet. Yarde joins his partner in the destruction of the Whirlwind's tidy timekeeping, Strigalev is so engrossed and reaching for that final ounce of expression he squats like a chicken, elbows jutting and still he blows. Imagine an expressive Clarice Cliff tea set, full of colour and zest, now think of it in a hundred shards after smashing at your feet. This is Zhenya Strigalev and that was the sound of Jazz's Antique Roadshow falling off its pedestal.

AL.

Cloudmakers Trio - Anybody Hurt?

Jim Hart - Vibes

The Cloudmakers trio created the buzz of the festival on Day 3 (12/10/2013) of the Whirlwind Festival with a combative and ambitious set of just five tunes. Variety and verve were the themes in a numerically challenged set, raining down on the audience until they clapped in jazz soaked revelry.

Jamie Skey - The Quietus

Jim Hart on vibraphone leads from the front, a pathfinder, opening doors of perception in the fearless pursuit of cerebral gymnastics. These contortions aren't just contained between his ears but physically too. On more than one occasion sticks were replaced with bows and he attacked the vibraphone from both sides. Hart, like a Sunday-lunching patriarch carved his roast simultaneously from North and South, jettisoning our emotive stuffing to all four corners of his melodic table.

Michael Janisch - Bass

To my left I spotted an equally animated scribbler, a man with a heroic profile and a beard of Norse proportions. He too seemed energised by the Cloudmakers repertoire, in fact here's the proof. This was Jamie Skey, recent appointee to The Quietus stable as their jazz tip reporter. Check out his review here.

Dave Smith - Drums

The second tune, "Conversation Killer", was anything but. Engaging and upbeat with an ease that ultimately started a germ of an idea, when would the social faux pas be revealed amongst the funk and swing. Although a favourite of mine it was the third, "Post-Stone" that brought the house down, while Hart carved his vibraphone chicken, Michael Janisch's chin worked overtime, proudly thrust in the air, his bass was a rumbling tummy and he eagerly sniffed the vibes' wafting delights. Spikey, aggressive and unforgiving, it swept the audience in a powerful collective moment. The spell was broken by Jim Hart as he reached the microphone and enquired "Anybody Hurt?".



Steve Marchant  - @yorks111

One man with no broken bones was the jazz and cricket 'face', Steve Marchant.  I had seen him at every Whirlwind gig I had attended over the past 3 days, he complimented Jim Hart's development since his Gemini days of the noughties, so I know he had survived a few Hart skirmishes already.

Dave Smith swept us into the "Early Hours" and with Janisch in tow they allowed our minds to wander once more. Creating spaces for playful thoughts after the previous tune had repressed our imaginations by kidnapping them in its high speed chase. They both had time to throw us down a metaphorical escalator in the rhythmical cascade of "Angular Momentum".

Once again no one was hurt but a few swapped tales of jazz bruises as they congregated outside, galvanising constitutions before the final triple bill of the festival.

AL.

Patrick Cornelius - Infinite Whirlwind

Patrick Cornelius - Alto saxophone

Patrick Cornelius got the last day (12/10/2013) of the Whirlwind Festival underway for me at King's Place. Arriving in a state of disarray after being pressed into action for one of London's Big Draw events, his quintet had an immediate calming effect. In fact I felt at home, here was a concert revolving around Cornelius' second album, Infinite Blue, and taking its title from a crayon no less.

Jason Rebello - Piano

Patrick Cornelius has a disarmingly unassuming demeanour yet he must possess a cohesive personality that builds a group around himself rather than play the despot. Looking every inch an old fashioned bank manager, bespectacled and tidy he brought his fellow players together with performance and composition.

Jason Rebello challenges preconceptions too, I had been banned from looking at his publicity photos for years by my mother. With a wild intense stare that reached beyond poster and flyer, I would have nightmares that Rebello had the power of ESP and telekinesis.

Michael Janisch - bass

Upon reading in John Chilton's "who's who" that he had entered a Buddhist Temple to hone his intense meditation skills I feared he might explode my head from 50 paces if our eyes ever locked. Of course totally unfounded, he looked absolutely approachable and yes there was an intensity to his playing but a buoyancy too.

Nick Vayenas - Trombone

"The Incident" wound every one up, audience and musicians alike. The hatless Michael Janisch giving way to Whirlwind Festival favourite Nick Vayenas, playing as crisply as his starched white shirt. Andrew Bain's nostrils flared wider than an asthmatic maori as he got involved too. It was the next tune "My Green Tara" that brought the performance of the set, the aforementioned Rebello producing a breath-taking turn. Delicate and balanced it described a shifting light that alternated between the opaque and transparent. Between these two planes I was caught like a fly in amber.

Andrew Bain - drums

The stillness of "In the Quiet Moments" was timely before the final "Regents Street" but I was still trapped in the resinous aspic of Jason Rebello's performance and his stare as the band took a bow in response to the audience's applause. My head didn't explode of course, well not through any Jedi mind tricks anyway, just good old fashioned music.

AL.

Phil Robson - Whirlwind Slap

Phil Robson - Guitar

With a gauntleted slap we were challenged by Phil Robson on the final session of Day 2 (11/10/2013) at the Whirlwind Festival. To engage with the music we did not need to discover all the hidden secrets of his album 'The Immeasurable Code' but the brain had to be in its most alert and functioning state. This was not a concert that revealed all its delights in the short 50 minutes format, in fact the music has lived with me longer than any other. Armed with the recorded music and a fast broadband speed I am only now appreciating its full depth.



Ernesto Simpson - Drums

Phil Robson's music has a burning intensity that is written all over his face, his trilby was the kettle lid perched upon a furrowed brow and his red head looked as though it was touching boiling point throughout the performance. Hot and fierce on the outside, I suspect his cerebral cooling system is exemplary because his playing was measured, assured and direct.



Gareth Lockrane - Flute

Gareth Lockrane and his flute had certainly regained some of his pep from the previous day and Robson squeezed every conceivable facet of this man's talent out of him. 'Nassarius Beads' with its short cascades had the audience swaying with shoulders and heads before Lockrane's misty funk worked down to their hips.

Stan Sulzmann - saxophone

Second tune "Telepathy and Transmission" with its fractious beat/sound gave Ernesto Simpson the chance to dig deep and Robson showed that he is willing to dirty his hands to provide us with a gritty challenge. We were asked to roll up our sleeves too.

Michael Janisch - Drums

In contrast "Telegram" gave it to us on a plate, its title and introduction from Robson served its themes like an Edwardian calling card. Stan Sulzmann provided the shiny train tracks on which the rest of the group steamed along, whilst we in contrast, had time to stare out the window and let our imaginations blossom from the safety of our chairs.

Michael Janisch was resident on the bass, supporting his long time friend Robson and stepping into the latter's new tune "Berlin". After several attempts to sketch him, this is one of my favourites, capturing his strong angular features and that often slack mouth with bouncing lower jaw which is an indicator that  he's really in the groove.

Stephen Jay

Gareth Lockrane brought us to a sleepy conclusion with "A Serenade" and for the first time I watched Whirlwind photographer Stephen Jay put down his camera and just take it all in, probably partly in exhaustion. Lockrane drew out the subtlety of the composition as if transforming his flute into a slender rolling pin and slowly flattening our soft pastry edges. I was cooked too after sketching for 6 hours and was happy to retire and contemplate Phil Robson's music at my leisure.

AL.