October at the Vortex

From London’s Vortex Jazz Club:

Sat 6 | 8.30pm £10

Troyka
Fuelled by textural guitar loops, angular riffs and displaced drum grooves, Troyka – Chris Montague (guitars), Kit Downes (organ) and Joshua Blackmore (drums) – have distilled their unique genre bending live act into a compelling listening experience.

Wed 10 | 8.30pm £9

IRèNe
Mixing contemporary experimental jazz with alt rock and electronic music, Yoann Durant (saxophones), Julien Desprez (guitar), Clement Edouard (electronics and saxophone) and Sebastien Brun (drums). celebrate the release of their new CD, ‘Nek’.

Ma
Led by Redsnapper/Outhouse saxophonist Tom Challenger, MA features Dave Smith (drums), Ross Stanley (organ) and Matt Calvert (electronics). Within a setting of dubby beats and drones, MA utilise deceptively simple themes as a launch pad for music that full of powerful improvisation and unexpected textures.

Thur 11 | 8.30pm £9

Let Spin
With Moss Freed on guitar alongside bassist Ruth Goller (Acoustic Ladyland), saxophonist Chris Williams (Led Bib) and Fin Panter (Beats & Pieces) on drums, Let Spin is a brand new musical collaboration which features original compositions from all four instrumentalists, from dark, brooding grooves to upbeat quirky riffs via folk-infused melodies and free playing.

Between them, these individual players have played with the cream of contemporary genre-crossing UK bands, and this coming-together promises to be an electric meeting of their creative forces, and represents a fantastic opportunity for audiences to hear a cross-section of the current vanguard of the scene.

Spill Kit
Led by Chris Dowding (trumpet, flugelhorn and electronics), Spill Kit are Ruth Goller (bass), Fred Stidston (piano and keys) and Max Hallett (drums). All from East London, they have played with bands, such as Acoustic Ladyland, Natural Causes and Braindead Collective.

Sun 14 | 4.00pm £8

Township Comets
Led by vocalist Pinise Saul, with Chris Batchelor (trumpet), Harry Brown (trombone), Jason Yarde (saxophone), Adam Glasser (piano), Dudley Phillips (bass) and Frank Tontoh (drums), the Comets play the searing, joyous music of saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, a towering figure in South African jazz.

Sun 21 | 8.30pm £8

Mopomoso
Continuing bringing the very best of free improvisation in our 21st anniversary year, this month with four contrasting duos.

Leon Michener & Neil Metcalf
Mopomoso debut for Michener (clavichord/piano), who will be using specially designed amplification to retain the unique baroque sound of the clavichord. Here partnered by one of Europe’s finest flute players Metcalf, whose melodic invention never ceases to amaze.

Viv Corringham & Dave Tucker
A welcome return for this duo whose last appearance was a delight. Corringham’s vocal lines and interjections, coupled with guitarist Tucker’s no nonsense playing approach, create a direct and engaging music.

Dominic Lash & Chris Cundy
Under the name ‘Two Plump Daughters’ Cundy (clarinets) and Lash (bass) bring their own musical vision to Mopomoso. The Wire has described their music as, “a little like Sun Ra’s Heliocentric Worlds spending the afternoon by the fireplace in an exclusive country club for well-heeled gentlemen”.

Yoko Arai & John Russell
A Mopomoso return for Tokyo based pianist Arai to play her only UK date with guitarist Russell. Previously they have played together in Japan and in the UK, where Arai was a member of one of Russell’s larger Quaqua groups. This is their first encounter as a duo.

Tue 23 | 8.30pm £9

Paul Dunmall, Mark Sanders, John Edwards
For the first set Paul Dunmall plays bagpipes and Mark Sanders drums. There’s nothing quite like this amazing duo anywhere. For the second set Paul and Mark will be joined by bassist John Edwards. Unmissable.

Wed 24 | 8.30pm £10
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Gypsy/East European Jazz Night

Daphna Sadeh & Ayelet Rose Gottlieb
We’re going pretty far east this month to experience sumptuous music from
Daphna Sadeh and Ayelet Rose Gottlieb – two artists from John Zorn‘s Tzadik Records roster.

This special night of music, features original compositions inspired by jazz, Middle-Eastern, Israeli music and poetry. Gottlieb arrives in London via NY, where she is a member of Zorn’s international a-cappella quartet ‘Mycale’.

Sadeh, an established London-based musician, has won honours and awards for her compositions, including a commission from the Arts Council England for her new composition of world music and Baroque with musicians from the Academy of Ancient Music.

Daphna Sadeh (double bass) and Ayelet Rose Gottlieb (vocals) are joined by a stellar band, including Stewart Curtis (Woodwinds), Paul Shanti Jayasinha (trumpet), Barry Green (piano) and Guy Schalom (percussion and drums).

Thur 25 | 8.30pm £10
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Parker, Russell, Edwards
Long-standing regulars John Russell (guitar) and John Edwards (bass) join saxophonist Evan Parker for his monthly free improvisation residency.

Certainly no strangers to each other’s music, the trio nevertheless continues to unearth new creative potential in their rapid response, close listening improvisations. Engaging, vital and dynamic.

“Parker’s snake-like sax explores the infinite possibilities of free improvisation with circular breathing, harmonics, chords, and unbroken rhythmic note patterns – all incredibly exciting and engaging live, even to the improv layman” (Time Out).

Fri 26 | 8.30pm £9
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Maurizio Minardi Trio
Composer, pianist and accordionist Maurizio Minardi uses a myriad of musical elements and styles to create an original sound.

Reminiscent of Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Avishai Cohen, The Bad Plus, Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota, Yann Tiersen and Michael Nyman, Minardi’s intimate and expressive sound is defined by a daring and unique combination of genres from baroque to minimalist jazz fired up with splashes of the tango and the rumba.

“Minardi has long established himself as one of the finest pianists on the British jazz scene and beyond” (Rainlore’s World of Jazz).