This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
CMU Reviews @ London Jazz Festival Festival Reviews
Live Review: George Crowley Quartet at London Jazz Festival on 16 Nov
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 17 November 2010
This quartet played a lively and varied set above The Oxford pub in Kentish Town, led by the accomplished young tenor saxophonist George Crowley, who demonstrated a full-bodied, confident tone along with considerable improvising ability.
The majority of the songs were original compositions but the band didn’t use that as an excuse to go wildly off theme, and most of them were well structured and delivered. There were a few clangers, including ‘Marty McFly’ at the end of the first set and ‘Try Hard Wanker’ (a tune they’re considering renaming, apparently) in the second, but tunes like ‘V Flat Man’ and ‘Paper Universe’ were good scores expertly delivered.
Special mention should go to guest bassist Sam Lasserson who took a premium path on John Coltrane’s ’26-2′ and gelled well with the band throughout the night; drummer Josh Morrison and pianist Kit Downes were well drilled on the written stuff but both would benefit from conditioning their unsupervised contributions; and with his skill and assured sound, coupled with a deep knowledge of standards, Crowley would survive playing with almost any quartet across London and beyond.
They played to a packed house and were well deserving of the extended applause they received after closing with a special rendition from Thelonious Monk’s ‘Brilliant Corners’.
