Partisans at The Vortex, London, March 30th, 2007.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Jazz-Rock group the Partisans are celebrating ten years together with a monthly residency at the Vortex and their opening March performance featured special guest Jim Watson on Hammond Organ. This group has led the way for the new generation of jazz artists in the UK with their combination of the energy of a rock band with the subtlety and improvisational brilliance of world-class jazz musicians.
Drummer Gene Calderazzo and bassist Thaddeus Kelly responded to every impulse from the soloists while remaining locked in perfect sync, alternating between rock, latin and hard bop mode without flinching, while Phil Robson and Jim Watson created a dense but never muddy texture allowing for some sombre, some mysterious and some flat out raucous playing, including some mean hard-bop playing from Julian Siegel. What comes across from the group is a great sense of enjoyment and energy in the music, with were many smiles exchanged between the players as they played their hearts out. The enjoyment was reflected in the audience’s appreciation and the inevitable call for an encore, by which time the band was on white hot, blistering form.
Report: Mark Trounson