One of jazz's great pleasures is to listen to a group that has worked together long enough to have built up an understanding but not so long that routine has started to solidify their responses. Pianist Zoe Rahman, who has a burgeoning reputation as both player and composer, has been working with Oly Hazelhurst, on bass, and American Gene Calderazzo, on drums, for several years, so the trio has built up a strong empathy. The result is playing that is not just tight and aware but music that has unexpected depth and warmth.
Rahman is a musician who clearly likes to feel closely connected to her rhythm section rather than using them as a platform from which to demonstrate her skills. But skills are not lacking. She is able to combine a lightness of touch with a forceful manner that allows her to make both solo lines in the right hand and dense rhythmic chords with half hidden melodies come through with equal vigour and intensity. She played long fast passages, as in Monk's Well You Needn't, with seeming effortless drive and articulation, linking her phrases with perfect timing, leading to a vibrant flow that nevertheless maintained some of the angular gruffness of Monk. In pieces by Abdullah Ibrahim and her own compositions, such as Shiraz, she uses the full chordal potential of the piano with a clarity of touch that never muddied the rhythm while still pulling out the melodic nuances. There was some highly effective dialogue between piano and drums, where Calderazzo's sudden rim shots, shuffles and cymbal clashes talked back to Rahman's movements on the keyboard, while Hazelhurst's bass lines, beautifully defined as always, underpinned or came forward with real sensitivity. This was with densely coloured musical landscape full of wit and individuality.
The Carswell venue, where food is available before the performance and drink throughout the evening, has invested in a PA system that provides a well-balanced sound and the evening was run with an informal precision that some London clubs could learn from.
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