The Shelter
The visit of the Seamus Blake Quartet, presented by the Improvised Music Company on Monday night, produced a concert of superb jazz, some of it much more than that. Led by Blake on tenor, with Kevin Hays (piano), Ed Howard (bass) and Victor Lewis (drums), this was a class group.
Most of the material was written by the leader, and its challenging nature, as much as the personal qualities of the musicians, kept the quartet on its collective toes. Last Minute Club and Why Not, a quirky piece like a kind of updated Thelonious Monk, showed their ability to breathe as a unit. Both were taken through a succession of moods and tempos; Why Not, in particular, contrasting an almost pastoral duet between tenor and piano with a quartet build-up spurred by the developing intensity of Lewis's drumming.
At the core of the quartet's approach is this sense of contrast, of tension and release, and it produced an absolutely inspired take on The Modern Thing, a tune written by the Icelandic singer Bjork. Using electronics to echo the solo tenor lines against a prepared soundscape, Blake established a mood before, one by one, the others were brought in to take the piece into other areas. As an example of sustained, lyrical improvisation , it would be difficult to equal. This was a high point, but the quartet stamped its authority on a diverse range of material - rockers like Circle K, reflective pieces like Trust In You - where Blake made delicate use of a motif reminiscent of Jimmy Rowles's The Peacocks - and a basic Vanguard Blues with slightly altered changes.
Throughout, Blake showed what a mature soloist - with a lovely, distinctive tenor sound - he has become since he played in Cork in 1994; the references, if you need them, may be Joe Henderson and possibly Joe Lovano, but there's no doubt that what comes out is pure Blake. Hays remains the hugely impressive pianist he showed himself to be in Cork last year, Howard an impeccably sustaining bassist and Lewis simply one of the finest drummers around.
