Music / hen and chicken
Review: Josephine Davies’ Satori, Hen & Chicken
Some spiritual enlightenment tonight at the Jazz at the Albert sessions with a trio called Satori which is the Buddhist term for exactly that.
Perrier award winner Josephine Davies leads the band with cool, measured sax, and the outfit’s eponymous album Satori is played in its entirety for the first half of tonight’s gig.
Starting with the eastern mood of Insomnia we segue into the hypnotic meanderings of Something Small before the superb interplay and swing of The Tempest Prognosticator. Ever-smiling drummer Paul Clarvis like a boy with a new kit alongside the solid double bass of Dave Whitford.
Professionally, Clarvis has been around, and he famously helped to train the 100 drummers for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. He has a deceptive style about him – his almost cartoon-esque grin and expression belies a great sense of timing and touch.
The considered pace of Snakes follows and then the Sonny Rollins-inspired Paradoxy with Davies on tenor sax sounds like almost a nod to his classic Doxy. Crisp Otter is homage (and punnage) to the American saxophonist Chris Potter and the soprano sax of The Yips sees a quirky exuberance ending the first half.
The hypnotic melodies of the first part are given room for more freedom and expression in the second set, Davies’s dexterity more evident as she weaves fast and fluid lines within her serene and relaxed style. After the slow build of Wabi-Sabi, Coltrane is dedicated on One For JC, there’s a smoky ballad with The Space Between Thoughts, a funky ride in The Intrepid Shoes and back to the poignancy of Coltrane with the standout number of the night, Cry.
Inspired by a Coltrane tune called Your Lady, Cry makes its debut tonight with a roll of thunder from Clarvis’s drums and the squalling parping dynamic from Davies. It’s a mini-epic, a story, bringing visions of Coltrane through inspired playing.
The subtle jazz tango of Joe Henderson’s Y Ya La Qiero and the loungey Isfahan by Billy Strayhorn bring to a close a pleasing evening of imaginative music. Enlightening indeed…
Photo: Elfyn Griffith
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