A nice piece of tune titling from guitarist Ant Law opened the second half of this latest instalment of the Jazz Bar's admirable Wednesday series featuring bands from the UK and wider jazz scene.
Law had intended creating something with much less form than emerged and so named the piece Stract in honour of its less than abstract, indeed, quite readily familiar structure.
The quartet at other times did become involved in freer ideas and these passages, while not without merit, weren't their most convincing moves in a performance that otherwise had a lot going for it. Law and alto saxophonist Michael Chillingworth have developed a close understanding and their unison playing on items such as Law's arrangement of John Coltrane's Satellite, with its very effective rhythmical switches, and the guitarist's own For Silver was especially impressive.
Law was on familiar territory, having studied at Edinburgh University, but it was his assimilation of concepts from New York, and particularly Big Apple drummer Ari Hoenig, that shone through here.
His writing is varied and attractive – Entanglement's bright, optimistic chord sequence contrasted nicely with the latter Thirteen Moon's darker elements – and while the fine details of the arrangements are tightly executed, he gives his musicians ample space for exploratory solos within the music's ebb and flow.
Much of the credit for the flowing aspect goes to Law's shrewd choice of drummer, James Maddren, whose awareness of compositional shape and ability to add real impetus at a quiet volume made him an almost magnetic focal point as he changed pace, bossed latin rhythms, integrated effortlessly with bassist Tom Farmer, and swung with unfailing musicality.
HHH
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