Jazz musician Chris Ingham and folk musician Chris Wilbraham cast their expert eyes over the local music scene in Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding area
JAZZ with Chris Ingham: cjr.ingham@outlook.com/chrisingham.co.uk
Sunday, July 14
BARB JUNGR *CANCELLED* (Venue 16, Ipswich, 2.30pm, £15, ipswichjazzandblues.com) Vivid song interpretations from the singer’s new album My Marquee, re-imagining songs associated with the legendary London venue. With Jenny Carr (piano), Richard Sadler (bass) and Jonathan Lee (drums).
Thursday, July 18
CHRIS ALLARD’S MELODIC COLLECTIVE (Colchester Arts Centre, 7.30pm, £16.50, colchesterartscentre.com) Searching and atmospheric music played by a quintet led by guitarist/composer Allard, plus Robbie Robson (trumpet), John Turville (piano), Olí Hayhurst (bass), Will Glaser (drums).
Friday, July 19
STEELY JAZZ (St Peter’s By The Waterfront, Ipswich, 7.30pm, £15, 01473 225269, stpetersbythewaterfront. com) A new repertoire project, recasting the songs of Steely Dan for jazz quintet, with Chris Ingham (piano/vocal), Harry Greene (sax/guitar), Paul Higgs (trumpet), Geoff Gascoyne (bass) and George Double (drums).
FOR THE DIARY
Wednesday, July 24
THEO TRAVIS’ DOUBLE TALK (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £20, 01787 211865, fleecejazz.org.uk) The saxophonist’s high octane innovative jazz, with underlying rock and ambient influences, with Theo Travis (sax), Pete Whittaker (organ), Mike Outram (guitar) and Nic France (drums).
Friday, July 26
DJANGOLIERS (Hunter Club, Bury, 7.30pm, £18, headhunterslive.org, 07799 650009) Delightful, swinging summer sounds in the Gypsy Swing style as the Djangoliers celebrate the music of Belgian guitar legend Django Reinhardt. With Simon Hurley (guitar), Robert Ford (guitar) Zak Barrett (clarinet) and Andy Staples (bass).
Sunday, July 28
ALICE ‘N’ WONDERBAND (Yalm Food Court, Norwich, 7.30pm, £16.50, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) International specialists in Bossa Nova and Musica Populàr Brasilera, featuring Alice Bell (vocals), Luca Boscagin (guitar), Davide Mantovani (bass) and Davide Giovannini (drums).
Sunday, August 4
PAUL HIGGS’ PAVANE/TIM GARLAND & JASON REBELLO (Chelmsford Cathdral, 6.30pm, £30-£40, chelmsfordcathedral.org.uk/events) Writtle Jazz present a fundraiser for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Parkinson’s UK with the unique classical/jazz crossover project Pavane, led by trumpeter/composer Paul Higgs and featuring cellist Natalie Rozario, plus a world-class duo performance with saxophonist Tim Garland and pianist Jason Rebello.
Sunday, August 11
CHRIS INGHAM QUARTET - GETZ: A MUSICAL PORTRAIT (Venue 16, Ipswich, 2.30pm, £15, ipswichjazzandblues.com) Fresh from their sell-out appearance at Ronnie Scott’s, the qaurtet’s show is a career-wide salute to the varied and delightful output of saxophonist Stan Getz featuring master reedsman Mark Crooks, plus Chris Ingham (piano), Joe Pettitt (bass) and George Double (drums).
Tuesday, August 13
ALAN BARNES/DAVE NEWTON (Maddermarket Theatre Bar, Norwich, 8pm, £16/£8 u25, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) Long-established saxophone/piano duo, specialising in spontaneous, inspired treatments of favourite standards, replete with musical synergy and wit. Featuring cuts from their latest album ‘Tis Autumn.
Wednesday, August 14
ODDGEIR BERG TRIO (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £20, fleecejazz.org.uk, 01787 211865) Nordic electro-acoustic jazz in the Esbjorn Svensson/Tord Gustavson direction i.e., moody, atmospheric and haunting - featuring Oddgeir Berg (piano), Audun Ramo (bass) and Lars Berntsen (drums).
FOLK with Chris Wilbraham: chris.wilbraham@tinyonline.co.uk
With Bury Folk Festival last weekend, Ely Folk Festival this weekend and Latitude and Cambridge Folk Fest in a fortnight, festival season is truly upon us. I thought I might review some of the Glastonbury sets I caught on TV and which can still be watched on iPlayer, and preview Ely Folk Festival which begins this evening with a set from my duo The Larks at 7.30pm.
The first Glastonbury performance I watched was Olivia Dean, who impressed me with her songs and the way she introduced them. A song about her grandmother being particularly memorable.
This is the Kit were a great highlight for me. They have been in the Folk Album Chart since its inception in 2020, and seeing them play live was a treat. Their hits such as This is What You Get fizzed from the screen with beautiful guitar sounds. Other folk acts included Lankum, Johnny Flynn and the Mary Wallopers. I missed Johnny Flynn and can’t find his set anywhere but watched to the other two with interest. Lankum, who also play at Latitude, played the most traditional music I have heard at Glastonbury, slowing down songs such as The Wild Rover, giving them intricate arrangements, including a hurdy-gurdy. The Mary Wallopers were much more reminiscent of an up-tempo Pogues. Both were very funny between songs with their on-stage banter delivered in strong Irish accents.
Elsewhere, I enjoyed the unreconstructed fun of The Vaccines. They played smashers, like Post Breakup Sex as their lead guitarist grinned at the audience wearing a T-shirt on which he had scrawled his phone number and the message “call me”. Another highlight was seeing Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim join his mate Paul Heaton to play bass on the Housemartins belter Happy Hour. The Sugababes aren’t a band I’d usually seek out, but my daughter tipped me off and I enjoyed the sight of them flying the flag for older performers, and a massive audience gleefully singing along to songs like About You Now.
Ely Folk Festival starts this evening with Breabach and Kitewing featuring on the main stage and local acts like Farandina Afifi and ROME joining us on The Kingfisher Stage. Frog on a Bike play for a late night Ceilidh.
Saturday afternoon sees Kitewing split into The Shackleton Trio and Christina Alden & Alex Patterson to perform separately, Kelly and Woolley join the fray along with John Kirkpatrick and Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage.
Peatbog Faeries, Morganway and Wildswood Buoys promise to keep the tempo rising on Saturday evening. O’Hooley and Tidow and Guise will offer more gentle entertainment if needed.
On Sunday afternoon there is the chance to catch Jez Lowe and David Gibb in action along with band Kegs and the patrons of the festival, Boo Hewerdine and Brookes Williams perform together.
Eddi Reader is arguably the biggest name playing on the last evening of the festival with Ian A Anderson, the man behind the recent release of music from Les Cousins Folk Club, Cambridge and Walker, Orphean Sprig, Rusty Shackle, The Fugitive and Rory McLeod also performing.
People really enjoyed the new venue last year, hopefully the event will build on that this weekend. If you are there for the start, please come and say hello after our set.
Friday-Sunday, July 13-15
Ely Folk Festival, Stuntney Estate, Soham Road, Ely.
Monday, July 16
The Dove, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm, round the room session.
Tuesday, July 16
Rose and Crown, Bury St Edmunds, 4-7pm, daytime session.
Wednesday, July 17
Ely Folk Club, Arkenstall Village Centre, Haddenham, 7.30pm, Camus, support from The Larks. £13.
Banham Barrell, 8pm, Later with James Veira.
Thursday, July 18
The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm, Alabama 3 Acoustic. £28.
