Jazz breaking news: Things that go Thump in the basement – Thump Festival at Pizza Express Jazz Club

The Festival teamed-up with Turkish cymbal maker Murat Diril, who provided a range of 100% handmade cymbals, obviously tantalised Richard Bona (pictured below), the featured Cameroonian bass player, who exclaimed – 'I expect to find a set of these cymbals waiting for me in my studio when I return home'.

With a slight change to his lineup, Richard enlisted the two Cubans in drummer Ernesto Simpson and pianist Osmany Paredes to open the first two nights of the festival with his Afro-Cuban flavours. Bona has a formidable pedigree, having played with likes of Joe Zawinul, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Mike and Randy Brecker, and George Benson to name a few. With a repertoire as broad as it is deep the trio eased in with a straight-ahead rendition of 'There Is No Greater Love' before delivering what he calls his 'deranged' (re-arrangement) of Miles Davis' 'All Blues', where both bass and drums unleashed frenetic exchanges and pyrotechnic displays that would make Paredes the saviour for any purist, with his anchoring of the original melody with a latin swing.

The peaks and troughs created by compositions such as the beautiful ballad ‘Mut' Esukudu’ and ‘Cubanyando’, some sung in Bona's native dialect Douala as well as Brazilian Portuguese showed versatility and creative invention which made the trio sound larger than their number— more evident in the final song, ‘Lésé palé’ where the Murat Diril cymbals were made to show their mettle.

Saturday was the turn of drummer Poogie Bell (pictured below) and his band consisting of Bobby Ray Sparks (keyboards), Michael ‘Patches’ Stewart (trumpet/flugal), Tony Watson Jr (saxophones/bass synth) and Mey (vocals). Poogie Bell epitomises the term 'everywhere drummer'. Known for his work bassist/producer Marcus Miller, Luther Vandross, Al Jarreau, Stanley Clarke and Erykah Badu among others. He takes command and the band owns the stage, thumping tight, energy-packed arrangements with Bobby Sparks' steaming organ and hot funky horn lines from Watson and Stewart. When they laid down 'One Note Charlie' the joint was jumping! The cymbals sizzled and held their own through the evening, unlike the snare drum, which had to be replaced. There were some subtle moments too where Stewart was able to feature the velvet tones of his Christian Scott-design horn.

Poogie captained his ship throughout the storm and commanded all hands on deck with the crack of a rim. Though the night ended young compared to previous there is no doubt that everyone went home in high spirits and I'm sure if measurements were carried out, they would show that the clubs basement ceiling has risen by a few centimetres.

After Saturday’s Thump, the club had an air of Sunday calmness for the young Moses Boyd (pictured below), to perform his tribute to a drummer that has been his main inspiration, Tony Williams. The fresh looking Boyd sported a black peacock feathered pork pie hat, hanging by the bar and looking confident. There's no chance of the 22-year old being told to grow a mustache lest suspicions of license violations are aroused. Behind the drum kit is a different matter. Boyd plays with a maturity not befitting his youthful demeanour.

Flanked by seasoned players such as Denys Baptist (saxophone), Peter Edwards (piano) with Jay Phelps (trumpet) and Max Luthert (bass) it was appropriate to start the set with a Tony Williams composition 'Sister Cheryl' and a short drum solo. The ensemble has a steady finesse driven by Peter Edwards’ harmonic inventions with Moses responding to each soloist interjecting and changing the dynamics. His brush and cymbal work on Wayne Shorter's 'Fall' builds a thought provoking mood with Phelps’ muted trumpet.

The Tony Williams influence is fully noticeable during 'If I Were A Bell' where all players are able to stretch out and Moses was about to bust loose during his solo moment. This young man shows promise and is set on a trajectory that points in the direction of a rising star.

The programming of this festival has been astute in many ways including its choice of opening acts such as Oded Kafri, a one-man-band who thinks nothing of taking to the streets of Brixton with his gadgets and performing to the weary traveller and certainly set the mood for Richard Bona's performances.

Matt Skelton and his trio laid the groundwork for Poogie Bell and made a quick escape after witnessing the soundcheck but not before laying down some great grooves and arrangements from Dave Newton (piano) and fine bass work from Tom Farmer. Hungarian drummer Tamas Berdisz who opened for Moses Boyd with his trio complemented the evening with some exquisite brush work in particular on 'Behind the Mask' . This energy packed event with its wealth of talented performers shows promise. Here’s to hoping for another one next year.

– Roger Thomas (story and photos)