Swinging Sundays

Review - Local Secrets

Local Secrets Review
"JAZZ REVIEW: Andy Bowie @ Elm" - By Martin Kemp

Sunday nights at the Elm Tree under are billed as 'Smooth Sundays….a sophisticated night of jazz….the perfectly relaxed end to every weekend. 'After reading this I was not quite sure what to expect - perhaps some tasteful muted choruses of 'The Girl from Ipanema'. I got far more than that.

The new energetic management at the Elm Tree is clearly determined to provide a proper environment for jazz players and listeners alike. In the case of the Andy Bowie quartet this resulted in two sets of lively full-blooded inventive jazz from four musicians who worked together well. Bowie himself has been a feature of the Cambridge scene on tenor and soprano sax for as long as I can remember. He has strong bebop influences - you get a lot of notes with Andy Bowie - but he particularly showed a strong affinity for a series of tough blues and Wayne Shorter numbers.

Normally the pianist is Peter Shepherd, but last night Andy was ably supported on keyboard by multi-instrumentalist and ex NYJO performer, John Halton. John knows when to leave space in his playing. The pair of them nimbly passed ideas back and forth and shared them with the excellent local bassist Laurence Evans, who contributed some excellent solos. The quartet was completed by the very effective drumming of Derek Scurll. The rhythm section provided real drive.

One of the most important objectives of jazz is for the players to communicate personally and directly with their audience.That is why it is a shame that so many bands are booked to play background music only. Here the sheer enthusiasm of the musicians got home to the audience, who responded with copious applause.
The Elm Tree – worth visiting for itself - was crowded. as I understand it has been since the music got going again. Steve Davies and Polly Griffiths are to be congratulated for their courage in going straight to putting on quality jazz on four nights of the week.

One function of a critic is to criticise, and so far there has been little but praise.It is always easy to find technical glitches in any performance, but on the points where it mattered the Andy Bowie Quartet really delivered. They are at the Elm Tree every Sunday.Try them out — as far as smoothness is concerned they are not really on the same planet as Classic FM, Belgian chocolates or a chauffer punt on the river. Instead they swing and provide interest, commitment and drive.

The Andy Bowie Quartet performed at the Elm Tree Sunday 14th May