Jazz musician Chris Ingham and folk musician Chris Wilbraham cast their expert eyes over the local music scene
JAZZ with Chris Ingham: cjr.ingham@outlook.com/chrisingham.co.uk
Friday, February 21
FLANAGAN (Hunter Club Arts Centre, Bury, 7.30pm, £20, headhunterslive.org, 07799 650009) Mark Flanagan, singer, songwriter and long-time guitarist in Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, brings his own delightful trio comprising Adam Double (bass/vocal) and George Double (drums/vocal) to showcase original, heartfelt blues/roots/Americana songs.
Saturday, February 22
CHRIS INGHAM QUARTET (Southwold Arts Centre, 7.30pm, £19.50, southwoldartscentre.co.uk) Presenting their acclaimed salute to legendary American songwriter Hoagy Carmichael, Chris Ingham (piano/vocal), Paul Higgs (trumpet), Simon Thorpe (bass) and George Double (drums).
Sunday, February 23
GRAHAM CLARK (Yalm Food Court, Norwich, 7.30pm, £13, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) Monthly music shows at Norwich’s Yalm Food Court continue with jazz violinist Graham Clark joining Simon Brown (piano), Simon Wood (bass) and Tom Jiggins (drums).
Wednesday, February 26
TRISTAN BANKS’ VIEW FROM ABOVE (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £20, fleecejazz.org.uk, 01787 211865) Infectious acoustic jazz with Latin and soul flavours played by a troupe of top session and jazz musicians. With Tristan Banks (drums), Paul Booth (tenor sax), John Crawford (piano) and Davide Mantovani (bass).
FOR THE DIARY
Friday, March 7
A BRIEF HISTORY OF JAZZ (Diss Corn Hall, 7.30pm, £18, thecornhall.co.uk, 01379 652241) A delightfully entertaining presentation led by Paul Higgs – former musical director for the National Theatre and RSC and one of the UK’s finest jazz trumpeters. With Chris Ingham (piano), Malcolm Creese (bass) and Neil Bullock (drums).
Sunday, March 9
GEORGIA MANCIO QUARTET + TASSOS SPILIOTOPOULOS TRIO (Venue 16, Ipswich, 2.30pm, £15/£7.50, ipswichjazzandblues.com) Impressive double bill featuring highly-refined singer/songwriter Georgia Mancio with Gareth Lockrane (keyboard/flute), Andrew Cleyndert (bass) and Dave Ohm (drums), plus opening act led by guitarist Spiliotopoulos with Andrea Dibiase (bass) and Jon Scott (drums).
Tuesday, March 11
Q3 (Maddermarket Theatre Bar, Norwich, 8.30pm, £18/£9, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) Led by pianist Martin Hallmark, Cambridge-based quartet Q3 present an evening to perform tracks from their 2024 album Water-Speckled Midnight, combining jazz with Latin, funk, Arabic and Mediterranean influences. With Kevin Flanagan (saxophone), Tiago Coimbra (bass) and Chris Diamand (drums).
Wednesday, March 12
TIM KLIPHUIS TRIO (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £27.50, fleecejazz.org.uk, 01787 211865) Award-winning Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis has created a brand new style that embraces classical, gypsy jazz and folk. Hailed as a ‘current-day improvising Paganini’, his inclusive and innovative approach to music has united audiences and is influencing a new generation of string players. With Nigel Clark (guitar) and Roy Percy (double bass).
Thursday, March 20
ALEX HITCHCOCK’S DREAM BAND (Hidden Rooms, Cambridge, 7.30pm, £22 & £16.50, cambridgejazz.org, 01223 514777) New York-based, London-born saxophonist is a distinctive improviser and a provocative, playful composer. With Will Barry (piano), Mats Sandahl (bass) and Marc Michel (drums).
Saturday, March 22
HANNAH HORTON WITH DENNIS ROLLINS (Haverhill Arts Centre, 8pm, £15/£10, haverhillartscentre. co.uk) Swinging Cat Jazz Club hostess Hannah Horton welcomes funky jazz trombonist Dennis Rollins, whose credits include Courtney Pine, Maceo Parker, Jamiroquai, US3, The Brand New Heavies, Blur, Monty Alexander, Pee Wee Ellis and Jean among many others.
FOLK with Chris Wilbraham: chris.wilbraham@tinyonline.co.uk
I spent last week skiing in Voss, Norway. Exploring the town I noticed the symbol of an instrument on the wall of the town hall. Later, in Voss’s Folk Museum, one of these instruments, a Hardinger fiddle, or hardingfele, was on display. It’s emblazoned with the coat of arms for this part of Norway, is considered to be the national instrument, has as many as nine strings instead of four, and is tuned differently to a normal violin. The oldest surviving one was built in 1651. I listened to some Hardinger fiddle music and was reminded that I’ve heard Norfolk folk musician Georgia Shackleton playing Annbjorg Lien’s January. It is a beautifully mournful piece. I asked her if she’d heard of the Hardinger fiddle. She said she owns one and loves it and has played in Voss.
The fiddles are used to play Norwegian folk and dance music. I found out that sometimes the fiddle is the only instrument played for a folk dance. I found videos of a dancer named Hallgrim Hansegård. He featured in Norway’s version of the TV programme So You Think You Can Dance. He pulled off some extraordinary moves, including spinning on his head and an acrobatic kick, in which he leaps and spins with his foot whipping high to kick his hat off a pole suspended above his head. I thought the move might have been developed for the the dance show but I’ve found other videos with different dancers doing the same thing, with the title Kicking The Moon. Hallgrim seems to be responsible for exciting the world of Norwegian folk dance over the last 20 years, setting up his own company FRIKAR which tours and collaborates internationally. He even won an award for best choreography at The EurovisionSong Contest in 2009. The more conventional looking dance shapes I’ve seen are reminiscent of Russian and Greek dancing. I found examples of men or women dancing solo, in pairs and in groups and as mixed couples and groups. The Folk Museum mentioned Norwegian folk and dance music is taught in Voss’s Ole Bull Akademie. This large grey wooden house a little way from the centre of Voss was the dream of a man named Ole Bull for such a place to exist since 1863 and was finally established by fiddle player Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa in 1977. It was shut when I visited. I gazed through the windows into dance studios that reminded me of Camden’s Cecil Sharpe House, the headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Music Society. I chatted with a pair of young luthiers who build and maintain hardingfele in the adjacent workshop. They explained that thousands attend residential courses at the academy to learn about Norwegian folk music, something which is compulsory for teachers apparently.
This is in contrast to the times of religious revivals in the 19th century when many hardingfele were destroyed or hidden by fiddlers and lay people who thought “it would be best for the soul that the fiddles be burned”, as it was viewed as a “sinful instrument that encouraged wild dances, drinking and fights”.
Hopefully, there won’t be fights at this week’s local gigs:
Friday, February 21
Risbygate Sports Club, Bury St Edmunds, The Milkmaid Folk Club: Different Accents, plus support. £12.
Saturday, February 22
Canopy Theatre, Beccles, 7.30pm, State of the Union: Brooks Williams and Boo Hewerdine. £15.
Monday, February 24
Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm, Irish House Party. £23.
Colchester Arts Centre, 8pm, Ainsley Hamill, support from Sinéad Orme. £17.50.
Tuesday, February 25
Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm, Spiers and Boden. £22.
Wednesday, February 26
Risbygate Sports Club, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm, Bury Folk Collective: The Robbie Callas Cup.
Thursday, February 27
6 Bells, Horringer, 8pm, Acoustic session, performers by invitation. Audience welcome.
Friday, February 28
Apex, Bury St Edmunds, 7.30pm, Seth Lakeman. £29.50.
