One of the many admirable traits in Bridge Music's Thursday jazz series at Glasgow Art Club – jostling for position with the selfless dedication and perseverance of the organisation's main man, Bill Kyle – is that it presents musicians with not only a sympathetic platform for their talents, but also an opportunity to showcase their ambition.
The latest recipient, bassist Brodie Jarvie's ambition in presenting two lengthy continuous pieces may have expected rather a lot from his audience. But while their occasional longueurs and losses of momentum were perhaps symptoms of works in progress, there was also promise on display in some of the stronger themes and in some effectively understated writing for the three-saxophone frontline.
Jarvie was also well served by his musicians, particularly Brian Molley, whose improvising on tenor saxophone was consistently coherent and attractive, pianist Peter Johstone, who lent commitment and tenacity in various tempi and rhythmical settings, and the slightly underused guitarist, Davie Dunsmuir.
He it was who led off the opening piece with liquid treble lines and he was on hand again later, midway through, to add a lovely pattern of harmonics to a moody section and then to contribute a fine solo after the interval. Various influences seeped into Jarvie's writing, including a decidedly Scottish brogue, allied to swingtime, in the theme that brought the first half to a close with a sense of resolution, and there was a folk-dance quality in the final theme of the evening to send the audience off into the night with a catchy tune in their heads. The series continues this Thursday with the very interesting-sounding Japanese quartet, Gato Libre.
Music
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