Emma Rawicz Quintet and Oscar Lyons Quartet

Day Two of the wonderful Watford Jazz Junction Festival and a triple bill of temptations on offer. Although unable to make Cleveland Watkiss presents The Great Jamaican Songbook in the evening, I was able to get along to Watford's Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre for an afternoon of delights.

First up was 17-year old Suffolk-based pianist Oscar Lyons who led a confident set of his original compositions. 'Convergence' and 'Close To Home' both felt like work from a musician of many more years and much more experience than Lyons 17, rich in colour and emotion. My favourite however was his closer El Vieco (I hope I've spelled that correctly!) which was inspired by his Mexican heritage and was filled with the dance-like energy.

The band was George Johnson on tenor saxophone, cutting quite a dash in his deer-stalker hat; Chris Diamand on electric bass, beaming a sunshine grin at the audience throughout; and Luke McCarthy on drums who kept the whole show knitted together with his cool, unhurried swing rhythms. Lyons himself on piano was mesmerising, leading the band with smiles and gentle nods, but playing the piano with his whole body, crashing his shoulders down into crunchy treble chords and lifting his whole chest when playing with a lighter touch.

Up next was Emma Rawicz and her quintet in their first-ever Watford show. Mixing tracks from her debut album 'Incantation' with sneak peeks of music from her upcoming album to be released later this year, it was a very personal hour of passionate and intimate jazz.

'Farloo' (again, spelling!) ought to be on the soundtrack of a high-octane action film; cinematic in scope and narrative in feel. In fact, many of the pieces felt like they had stories to tell rather than simply moods to evoke. 'Xanadu' captured the tension and strain of a growing storm while 'Rebecca' felt like a nervous walk through a ghostly house of horror. If not inspired by the Daphne Du Maurier novel, it certainly brought it to mind. 

Some of the stories were more personal. 'Middle Ground' was a ballad written as a gift for her father on his birthday. As Rawicz quipped, it beat the alternative which would have been socks. And 'Vera' was a tribute to her inspiration, her grandmother who, although not musical herself, encouraged Rawicz to follow her passions.

Improvising the set list for the first time, Rawicz was visibly enjoying herself, dishing out solos on the hoof and catching her band out with calls which sent them all scurrying for their manuscripts. But boy, were they up to the challenge. Ant Law dazzled on guitar, with dextrous Ivo Neame on piano, laid back Conor Chaplin on double bass and Asaf Sirkis playing drums with his eyes closed and head nodding as if channelling the beats from the spirit world. Another sold out Jazz Junction show, and another sweet treat for Watford jazz fans.

Xhosa Cole Quartet

It's an alien experience, listening to the music of Thelonius Monk without a piano, but also a joyous one. Xhosa Cole and his band presented Monk's racing tempos and virtuosic melodies in a whole new sound palette, encouraging the audience to hear these familiar tracks entirely afresh.

To say Cole is a generous player is an understatement. The evening started with the sound of his saxophone front and centre, but then he quickly retreated to the sidelines, literally prowling the edge of the stage as he turned the spotlight onto his bandmates. Josh Vadiveloo on double bass seemed to have a near telepathic connection to Nathan England-Jones on drums, accelerating and depressing tempos together as if they were one player. Steve Saunders dazzled on the guitar with lyrical solos that felt pulled from the heart.

This may be a symptom of my age, but my overriding impression of the band was one of youth. All in their 20s, they looked every inch the college quartet, dressed casually in track suits bottoms, chinos, T-shirts and trainers, the vibe was so relaxed we could have been in a university common room. Their cheeky, chilled banter was utterly charming, and although he didn't speak much, Xhosa built an immediate rapport with the audience, reminding us of the three highest compliments an audience can make to a jazz band: make noise, dance, and buy the CD!

The youth-o-meter nearly snapped when Xhosa introduced two of his students to the stage (Luke Purbrick on guitar and Mejedi Owusu, both studying at Trinity, both brilliant and earning rapturous applause). With his typical generosity he described himself not as their teacher but their co-learner, and for me that summed up everything about his playing style. Open hearted, thoughtful and on a journey of discovery with whomever he's playing. When Carmen MacRae celebrated the music of Thelonius Monk, there was a sassy, edgy, aloof attitude to her interpretations that matched the prickly personality her audiences had grown to love. Xhosa Cole has managed to find a completely new character in Monk's music, a character that's welcoming, warm and creating a space where everyone's invited.

WJJ Gala Opening: Omar and Zara MacFarlane

This is only the second year of the Watford Jazz Junction festival, but as the crowds gathered to await the start of the opening night gala at the Watford Palace Theatre last night, the anticipation was palpable. The bar and foyer were abuzz with excited chatter as people eagerly geared up for a double headline night featuring two members of bone fide UK jazz royalty.

First up was multi award winning singer songwriter Zara McFarlane who, resplendent in a carnival green catsuit and wedge platforms, immediately brought a slice of Caribbean sunshine to the stage. This year the festival is celebrating the influence of the Caribbean on UK jazz and Zara charmed us with a story about her two sets of grandparents migrating from the UK from Jamaica as part of the Windrush diaspora. Although both intended to return to the Caribbean, only one set did, she quipped, adding “we have those who chose to stay to thank for me being here tonight!”

Her music balanced gorgeous evocative melodies in the foreground with intriguing, complex rhythms underneath, serpentine rhythms that were playful, shifting and seductive. The lyrics too were enticing, though often also spiky and provocative, tackling issues ranging from race and identity to self love and beauty standards. A particular favourite of mine was 'Broken Water', in which Zara snapped the end syllable off each of those title words (creating broke- war-) and looped into a scintillating whirlpool of sound, both flowing and snapping simultaneously. Her voice bent notes blue like whale song, and at times rose to sublime operatic tones in a manner reminiscent of the sassy Sarah Vaughn.

A highlight of the night however was the participation section, for which Zara wisely picked a lyric-less number! She had the whole auditorium singing along to a four line melody with a (once again) complex rhythm which offered space for her to add some feisty stomps in the final sing through. She had us all feeling like jazz pros!

Her cover of 'Police and Thieves' was an immediate crowd pleaser while her closing track, 'Future Echoes', was a sublime love letter to human connection. The line ‘I want to bathe in the clouds with you’ soared through the air like a carnival streamer.

Next up was the incomparable soul legend that is Omar Lye-Fook MBE. Igniting the stage in vivid red and orange, with sunglasses dangling coolly from his hips, he wasted no time in showing us why he has a career which has successfully spanned four decades and has included collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Common and Courtney Pine.

Billed as blurring the lines between jazz, reggae, nu-soul and soul, my abiding impression of his gala night set list was pure funk! A heavy, slapping bass, hot stabs on the trumpet and saxophone, and a treacly back beat on the drums soon turned the Palace into an after hours groove joint (perhaps for the first time in its history!).

'Everybody Loves The Sunshine' swiftly brought everybody to their feet, and with a little encouragement from Omar it was soon clear the Watford crowd were ready to party! He had us singing along to that famous repetitive refrain, praised us for stopping at the right moment, and when it looked like we might be about to sit down he called us out: “Who told you to sit down? I know you paid for a seat but it doesn’t mean you have to use it!”

From then on we were all on our feet, dancing along to his eternal classic There's Nothing Like This and whooping as he assured us that playing Watford is better than London. It was an old school house party atmosphere and when his final number ‘F**k War Make Love’ dropped, the band exploded into characterful solos and we knew we’d witnessed something very special indeed. A night for the jazz history books, and a stupendous opening for this year’s highly anticipated Watford Jazz Junction Festival.

Photos courtesy of Chris Newstead, Festival Director