Review > Fine opening weekend for the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival as groups big and small thrill the city
AMERICAN trumpet star Roy Hargrove provided a high-octane launch for the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival.
His Quintet wandered casually on stage at the Queen's Hall, but switched instantly to serious business mode when the trumpeter called the opening tune, a pristine hard bop treatment of Horace Silver's Kiss Me Right.
Hargrove's punchy, incisive trumpet work was complemented by a more romantic approach on flugelhorn in the ballads.
He was partnered by alto saxophonist Justin Robinson, and a powerful young rhythm section, led by pianist Jonathan Batiste, who had rather unwisely opted to wear a kilt.
The canonical hard bop of the early part of their set gradually gave way to more contemporary funk-infused idioms, and the trumpeter also invited singer Roberta Gambarini – who appears at the Nairn International Jazz Festival tonight – to join them for a couple of songs. Pianist Brian Kellock had opened the concert with a typically exuberant and inventive trio set with Kenny Ellis (bass) and Stu Ritchie (drums) in a very satisfying opening concert.
Saturday afternoon brought a rather unheralded treat at The Hub in the shape of the Japanese big band No Name Horses, led by the more familiar figure of pianist Makoto Ozone. It was obvious from the outset that they were a top-class band, tight and disciplined and with a range of excellent soloists.
The music was all original, mostly by the highly gifted Ozone, but with additional compositions by three more of the musicians. All of it was from their recording Jungle (as yet unreleased in Europe), in which they applied original and compelling twists to the staple forms of Latin Jazz, including their own take on tunes based on samba, bossa nova and mambo rhythms.
There was no lack of variety in the music, from the Ellington-esque beauty of Moonflower to the fractured rhythms and unorthodox colours of the vibrant Jungle and all sections of the band hit high standards. Watch out for trumpeter Eric Miyashiro as part of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival Orchestra this week.
Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi is a very well-established figure on the European jazz scene, but has never played in Scotland before. The first of his two appearances in the festival featured his trio, with bass player Barry Hall and drummer Andre Ceccarelli. In this show at The Hub, they focused on a combination of jazz standards and his own compositions.
Pieranunzi is a thoughtful improviser with a deft touch at the keyboard, and his readings of standards such as Jerome Kern's Yesterdays, Billy Strayhorn's elegant A Flower is a Lovesome Thing and Cole Porter's Everything I Love were very enjoyable. His own compositions were a little less compelling, although his tribute to Chet Baker, From E to C, was a nice piece, and was cleverly linked directly into Cole Porter's I Love You.
A full house at the Queen's Hall eagerly awaited the arrival of Eric Burdon, but things did not go quite as planned. American singer Lisa Mills's opening set was well-received, and the anticipation built in palpable fashion during the interval. Burdon's band – his current version of The Animals – was augmented by a young woman playing an amplified lyre-like instrument on selected tunes, adding an exotic texture to the more familiar rhythm 'n' blues staples of organ, guitar, bass and drums.
The band launched into When I Was Young, and Burdon strolled on stage to a great welcome. His voice sounded pretty good four decades on from his original fame, and the songs were all drawn from his Sixties and early Seventies heyday, including San Franciscan Nights and Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.
I have no doubt that House of the Rising Sun also lay in wait, but we never got that far. A fire alarm mid-way through his sixth song led to an evacuation of the hall and a lengthy delay. Happily, it wasn't raining, and we all filed back in when the all-clear was given to enjoy the rest of the set. He got through Boom Boom and In My Life, and was in the middle of an atmospheric Factory Girl when the alarm went again – this time sadly signalling a premature end to proceedings.
