Jazz in the Round at the Cockpit, review — an intimate duo, a master pianist, a groovy saxophonist

Jez Nelson and Chris Phillips launched their first Jazz in the Round triple bill in January 2012 and, Covid apart, have been presenting their monthly mix of new talent and established faces ever since. This month’s showcase combined a feisty groove-based trio led by young Peruvian-born saxophonist Allexa Nava with a rare solo set from pianist Elliot Galvin. In the evening’s second half, the close interplay between pianist Robert Mitchell and cellist Shirley Smart reflected a musical relationship almost as old as Jazz in the Round.

Mitchell and Smart are both classically trained but developed their improvising skills elsewhere — Mitchell in the hothouse of London jazz, Smart after a decade studying in the Middle East. Their duo draws these strands together, often in the space of a few bars.

This performance, mixing new material with compositions from last year’s Zeitgeist² album, delivered the intimacy of two strong technicians sharing a common bond. Smart conjoins Bach-like surges from low notes to high with sensuous Middle Eastern inflections, has a wide sonic range and simultaneously plucks and bows. Mitchell delivers quickfire mid-range clusters, sensitive accompaniment and rhythmic thrust.

The set began with bowed cello hinting at a non-European scale and veered into a close dialogue of plunks, rattles and taps. Piano then cello took the lead, and the razor-sharp unison line of “Mind’s Eye” flagged a compositional touch. Contrasting covers then flagged up the duo’s stylistic range. “Rain”, composed by jazz pianist Geri Allen, brilliantly conjured watery windows and leaden skies. The delicate “For Catherine”, based on a piece by composer Howard Skepton, summoned wide open spaces — scratchy cello combined with sparse piano was a surreal effect. Though both pieces changed shape, style and mood, the narrative core remained firm.

The evening continued with a Mitchell poem around unity and division, then “Opals” with its fugue-like piano, energetic improv and more besides. “Amethyst Waltz” was the closer, a new work with a light touch and a rhythmic peak.

★★★★☆

Galvin’s enthralling solo performance hushed the audience before the interval. A first scattering of notes made the most of the house piano’s jangly upright tone and his final lines captured the decorative turns of a Gaelic lament. That piece was based on the English folk-ballad “Pretty Saro”, but for the most part, Galvin’s set unfolded as a series of precisely drawn sonic portraits that married two-handed independence with deadened tones and scraped wires. Strong moods were sustained, clumps and clusters morphed into bell-like tones and the sense of an underlying logic was profound.

★★★★☆

The event began with Tomorrow’s Warriors protégé Nava, gaining confidence by the minute on a short three-number set. African rhythm was a hint, as was 1970s funk, and themes were tight and angular. Pianist Li Sing Chi compensated for the absence of bass, though it was unassuming drummer Cassius Cobbson’s tight beats and smartly executed rolls and thumps that stood out.

★★★☆☆

thecockpit.org.uk