As a scion of Britain's oldest brewing family, Shepherd Neame, young pianist-composer Ivo Neame, 32, could be expected to produce music of consistent high quality, good taste and potent afterglow. Underpinned by stylish drummer Dave Hamblett and Danish double-bass virtuoso Jasper Hoiby, with award-winning vibraphonist Jim Hart and the versatile tenorist/flautist Tori Freestone up front, his latest crew of seasoned professionals is arguably his best yet.
Neame himself is playing better than ever. Always an inventive and technically able pianist, his ideas used to sound nervous and indecisive. Last night they poured out in a confident stream of power and conviction.
His writing, too, is unusually clear-minded and original. Quixotic, the set-opener, featured flute and four-mallet vibes solos over a soulful riff that branched into multi-layered rhythm patterns. Personality Clash, dedicated by him to "certain bands where this seemed to happen a lot", featured a series of phrases cleverly designed to make a bumpy fit, and Moon Bathing was a waltz for Freestone’s silver tenor sax, her sound pure-toned yet incisive in the upper register in the manner of US master Mark Turner.
Highlight of the set was American Jesus, a complex arrangement of slow-quick-slow phrases that stopped on a dime yet burned into some straight-ahead four-four blowing that swung with tremendous momentum. For older listeners it was a statement of how far contemporary British jazz has come during the long career of Stan Tracey, the pioneering pianist-composer who died recently at 86, on the same day as Nelson Mandela.
