Tristan Banks, drummer and bandleader, cooks up a lovely Brazilian feijoada at his award-winning club The Verdict. The dish itself combines the comfort of beans and rice with the piquancy of pork loin and smoked sausage in a sauce you sprinkle with farofa. That mix of the familiar and the pleasingly exotic is also true of the music he serves up.
Tonight, it is Jackson Mathod and his quintet on the menu. The trumpeter and composer’s band has James Beckwith on keys, Edmondo Cichetti on double bass, Harry Pope on drums and Gabriele Pribetti on tenor sax. Their leader has an upbeat personality and it’s easy to see why he’s a much-in-demand musician. They kick off with a dynamite version of his ear worm tune “So Cold”, Mathod’s sharp fast notes contrasting with the cool dark lines pumping from Cichetti’s bass. Live, the tune is more forceful than the recorded version, driven by the incandescent drumming of Pope, who has all the energy, control and attitude you’d want in a live setting.
Indeed, while there is a lot of groove in this quintet, there’s also a great deal of space for musical exploration. The mood is playful and the beats often danceable. Everything about the band screams of-the-moment innovation, of musicians imbued from the cradle with a hip-hop vibe. Is this the future? If judged by the number of young faces in the audience, probably. At least I hope so for the music’s sake.
But they certainly respect their tradition. In homage to Quincy Jones’s passing, they play “Soul Bossanova” in rousing style to round off the first set. After the break Mathod also plays a tribute to Roy Hargrove, one of his musical heroes, with a standout version of “Soulful”. This gives Beckwith the opportunity to play great splintering note piano runs, seemingly chased through the song by Pope’s insistent drumming. A highlight of the evening.
And there is plenty of dynamic variation, such as on the ballad “Little Mouse” featuring sublimely-controlled and percussive tenor playing from Pribetti alongside Mathod’s muted trumpet. Another highpoint of the gig is the angular and moving “The Moon”, with its plaintive trumpet theme accompanied by Beckwith’s lovely chordal placement. Written by Mathod during lockdown, it evokes the forced solitude of the time, making art out of pain, lest we forget.
The evening closes with a return to the upbeat funky sound of new song “Mandible” and the stick-able and joyful trumpet riff of “Dumb People”. The latter is still resonating in my head as I head out into the Brighton night, spring in my step. Great stuff.
