UK Jazz News

Gaz Hughes Trio at Pizza Express Dean Street

20 February 2024.

Gaz Hughes. Photo by Paul Wood

I got it wrong. I genuinely thought that there was only way to build a jazz tour of over 40 dates in the UK, and that was to be Nigel Price.

Could there be anyone else blessed – or possibly cursed – with the same combination of an unshakable belief in the quality and communicative power of this music… plus the cussed determination to handle all the people who either never reply .. or deploy the oh-so British “let me get back to you” (and obviously never do…) and get regular bands out on the road night after night so they can really gel properly…? Surely not.

But I was reckoning without the indefatigable organisational skills at ninja level, the Elvin-ish drumming (and the imposing six foot four presence) of Cheshire-based Gaz Hughes. (SEE FEATURE/ INTERVIEW from Feb 2023). The evidence is in the poster above: two of his FORTY-FIVE (!) 2024 trio dates are in the Azores, but the rest are in the British Isles.

Gavin Barras and Andrzej Baranek. Photos by Paul Wood.

This really is jazz, and perhaps people whose choices in music tend to driven by a sense of chronological superiority – or The Wire – will need to look away. There is neither genre-busting or fluidity going on here, rather the belief that the jazz language between fine musicians acts as a great basis for musical communication, which can draw an audience in, by creating magic and making sparks fly in the moment. Or as Gaz has said: “What I want to get is music that people can really relate to.” And from the responses the group were getting last night, it works. The habits of communication get built by continuously working together on the bandstand. I am told this group has been the “backing” trio for, variously, Scott Hamilton, Alan Barnes and Art Themen on performances in the North-East, and surely there will be more.

The group’s fine pianist is Andrzej Baranek, endlessly inventive, and last night he was enjoying the powerful low sounds which his left hand could extract from the Pizza Express’s Steinway. Bassist Gavin Barras is a strong player, not least when playing arco with his German bow-hold, and yet can turn the volume down as well, as he did in the quieter moments of his composition “Disinformation”, a counterfact of “Confirmation”.

The UK scene needs individuals and bands like this to make sure it keeps going. It also needs the continuance of small venues.. but that is another story…

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3 responses

  1. I saw them recently in Southport and my summation was “A great mix of tunes evoking the classic trios of Oscar Peterson and Wynton Kelly but also more modern trios of Ray Brown and Jeff Hamilton.”

    Good to see them doing well in London Town.

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