Great shots by Patrick Hadfield of Denys Baptiste and Mark Crown from the recent Rhythmica show at the Southbank Centre. You can see the rest of the shoot here.

Review and photo by Roger Thomas

In this time of squeeze and cutbacks there are few opportunities for one to feel grateful, so thank heavens for the free Front Room sessions know as the Friday Tonic at the QEH.

At the height of Friday commuter time those who were wise enough to take the detour to the QEH were washed from the grime of a week of toil by a young and exhilarant Rhythmica. The neat and confident demeanour of Mark Crown –trumpet, Andy Chapman –drums, Peter Edwards –piano, Peter Randall –bass, with guest appearance from Denys Baptiste –saxophone. This was tonic to revive the weariest of commuters.

Their first set kicked off with Mark Crown having to delve deep into his creative and improvisational bag as they were minus their regular saxophonist– Zem Audu, who I believe was away in the Caribbean, or possibly New York –all right for some, eh. It was even more impressive that the first composition – Time Machine – was penned by the missing Zem. Anyway, Mark held his own and looking around at the packed Front Room the audience were displaying rhythmic nods of approval, not to mention hearty applause.

The set continued on the same creative high as it had begun with each member featuring at various moments adding some extra drama, and ending on a Peter Edwards composition, Triple Threat. During the second set guest saxophonist Denys Baptiste was brought on. With a shift of gear over Delfeayo's Dilemma , a tune by Wynton Marsalis, we were treated to some energised interaction between Andy Chapman and Peter Randall and some great sparring between the sax and trumpet.

The most poignant moment for me was as I was watching from the side, the evening is now drawing in, audience fully attentive and piano and sax are being featured on the John Coltrane composition Naima. Peter Edwards was feeding Denys Baptiste with some amazing chordal structures whilst remaining cucumber cool and clearly deep in introspection.

Now fully entranced by the beauty of this delivery, a thought came to me– wow this is great and comparable to anything from across the Atlantic. Out of my trance I was filled with a great sense of hope that this new generation of musicians are capable of keeping the music fresh and alive in the UK and do hope they continue to be nurtured and given all the support possible. Rhythmica have truly left fledgling Tomorrow's Warriors nest, and are showing a growing maturity.

http://londonjazz.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-rhythmica.html

With about 75 people present, it was standing room only. Standing at the back, I found Peter Edwards’ piano hard to hear – maybe it was not amplified, or not sufficiently. I enjoyed again bass Peter Randall’s solo in Parallel, a solo which seemed to have more coherence tonight, or perhaps I understood the motifs and their development better this time round. Andy Chapman on drums provided solid support for the odd time signatures, and I noticed again the frequent rhythmic coupling and tripling he did with Randall’s bass and Edwards’ piano.

I was also impressed by Mark Crown’s superfast bop trumpet solo on Herbie Hancock’s The Sorcerer. But the man of the match tonight was undoubtedly stand-in tenor sax player, Binker Golding, whose blistering, vein-popping solo on the same number had the audience up in a standing ovation when he ended. Even the two Dutch women near me who talked through the entire set were quiet for this, although they still didn’t look at the stage.

As best I recall, the order of songs was:

• Time Machine (Audu)
• Anthem (Edwards)
• Parallel (Joe Harriott)
• Turner’s Dream (Crown)
• Triple Threat (Edwards)
• The Sorcerer (Hancock)
• Blind Man’s Stomp (Golding).

Can’t wait to hear these guys again!

vukutu.com

The debut album from Rhythmica will be released on CD for the first time next month as a hand made strictly limited edition. It will feature individually silk screened artwork and will only sold at the band's UK dates in February. You can buy the album digital download from the Dune Music Store or any of the major online retailers.

Thursday 20 May 

The Spice of Life, Moor Street, Soho

Start time: 8pm  Tickets: £10, £8 MU & Students

Pianist Peter Edwards kicks off the Dune 'Most Exciting New Writers & Arrangers in British Jazz' series, with his new trio featuring Nick Walsh on bass and Saleem Raman on drums.

 

Peter creates dynamic compositions, which skillfully combine shifting time feels and impressionistic melodic lyricism. He completed a Masters in Jazz at Trinty College of Music in 2009 and is a product of the Tomorrow's Warriors artistic development programme for young jazz musicians. He has recorded with the Abram Wilson Quartet on the recently released album ‘Life Paintings’ and spent autumn and spring on tour with the band playing throughout the UK. He accompanies and arranges music for vocalists Nicola Emmanuelle and Zara McFarlane and is currently collaborating with poet Lemn Sissay and Bassist Gary Crosby on a project that re-examines the relationship of poetry and music. Peter is also musical director of the newly formed Tomorrow’s Warriors Jazz Orchestra, and his most recent project has been to recreate Duke Ellington’s masterpiece, ‘The Queen’s Suite. He went on to write his own suite ‘Above and Beyond the Horizon’ for TWJO. Both works were performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall in July 2009. Peter is also a member of Rhythmica, and his compositions 'Solace' and 'Anthem' are featured on their forthcoming album.

Spice of Life advance booking, venue details and location here