Julian Lage at the Union Chapel London

[James W]

I really enjoyed seeing The Julian Lage Trio. His compositions are at times unassuming and simple, tinged with Americana and for me evoke that country's wide-open spaces. The music is wide-open in another sense too, in that of course it's a vehicle for improvisation and those aforementioned qualities of simplicity give Lage and his trio plenty of room for conversational interplay and Lage himself gives the impression of recomposing the tune, really getting inside it, discovering a grandeur and intensity from a modest beginning. He's a brilliant soloist who exudes a nervous intensity. There was a very fine blues tune that featured unlike most of his tunes a walking bass and more swing drumming; also 'Tributary' was a stand-out and a new one 'Northern Shuffle' was too. I'm not au fait with Lage's oeuvre, but I've enjoyed his playing mostly via YouTube for years and I think his live playing is where it's at for him.

I took a picture which I'll upload when I'm home. Also the Union Chapel is a very nice venue.

[James W]

[David B]

Front and centre!

I was on the fence about booking for the matinee show, but decided against it as I was also seeing David Preston's new quartet at The Vortex last night. Slightly regretting it now, as I've heard and read lots of glowing reviews on social media today!

(James, if you can get to Wolverhampton on Thursday, it's worth seeing David Preston's quartet at Newhampton Arts Centre. Great band - Kit Downes, Kevin Glasgow, Seb Rochford.)

[James W]

(James, if you can get to Wolverhampton on Thursday, it's worth seeing David Preston's quartet at Newhampton Arts Centre. Great band - Kit Downes, Kevin Glasgow, Seb Rochford.)

Thanks for the tip, David - I'll look into it.