Review: Mark Kavuma Quartet and Watford Writers Jazz Track Titles

Tonight began with a jazz event that focused on words rather than music as the Watford Writers, a local group that welcomes, inspires, and encourages all writers and poets to share their work, gathered to present a series of competition winning poems and short stories on the theme of Jazz Track Titles. Here I must declare an interest, as I was honoured to be invited to judge the submissions and pick my four favourite poems and short stories, most of which we were lucky enough to hear read aloud by the authors.
Pieces ranged from the whimsical and comic to the touching and chilling, with copious playful interpretations and reimaginings of both jazz titles and familiar lyrics. The whole event was jovially hosted by Ian Welland. To enjoy the writing for yourself please do visit the Watford Writer's page here.

Two years ago, I saw Oscar Lyons and his band play at the Pump House Colne River Room as part of Watford Jazz Junction festival. This year he has graduated to the Pump House main stage and it’s a graduation that is well deserved. All of the songs played were his own original compositions and each was imbued with a strong emotional core. I felt he was a very careful piano player, never wasteful with notes and preferring to leave space and gaps then to fill the air with distracting frills and trills.

His band comprised George Johnson on tenor sax, Zaki Osahn on double bass and Ananda Brandão on drums. I especially enjoyed watching Johnson play as his changing facial expressions were a barometer of the performance, ranging from blank neutrality as he let the sound of the band just wash over him, to broad toothy grins as he revelled in the inventive improvisation of his bandmates. Brandao provided a showstopping solo which used every part of the drum kit with ingenuity and originality, and it's worth noting Osahn is a local player who studied at the Purcell School.

The main act was the Mark Kavuma Quartet, which became a quintet with the unexpected addition of saxophonist Ruben Fox. The rest of the band were Jack Garside on bass, Jack Thomas on drums, Deschanel Gordon on piano.

Sophisticated, mature, confident and charismatic, this band has everything you want from contemporary jazz. Even sartorial style, which seems in some quarters to be going out of fashion. When you looked at them, you could see they were every inch the jazz band who meant business: sharp shirts, pork pie hats, statement glasses; they were brimming with personality.

My highlight moment, as a lover of the Great American Songbook, was their sharp and spiky interpretation of Almost Like Being In Love, a Lerner and Lowe classic originally from the 1957 musical Brigadoon. They brought the tune right up to date with wild beebop improvisation, spiky rhythmic changes and soaring solos, while never losing the heart and romance of the original song. I especially enjoyed Gordon's piano improvisation, racing chromatic scales juxtaposed with syncopated splashes of notes. A class act all round.