The CMU team are currently covering the largest arts festival on the planet - the Edinburgh Festival - through our sister publication, ThreeWeeks in Edinburgh. If you are in Edinburgh check out the first edition of the ThreeWeeks radio show with Chris, Caro, some great guests and some top music today from 11am to 1pm today (and every day) on 87.7FM all over Edinburgh. Meanwhile, read all the latest news and reviews at http://www.threeweeks.co.uk, and check out some ThreeWeeks reviews right here from this year's Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, which reached its climax this weekend.
Mattias Seuffert Quartet at Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival on 31 Jul
Classic jazz with a new vein of life, Seuffert does more than just revisit the music of the 1920's and 1930's. He doesn't play out old standards as homage to the era, he revitalises them and makes them relevant to today. The experienced band included Tom Finlay (piano), Roy Percy (double bass) and Adam Sorensen (drums) with guest appearances from George Washing Machine on violin and his friend on guitar. They were flawless throughout with Seuffert and Washing Machine working off each other up front and Finlay, Percy and Sorensen keeping the mood high at the back. Six guys were up on stage doing their thing to classic jazz scores that felt like they were written yesterday. A mid-afternoon gem. TB tw rating 5/5
Tord Gustavsen Trio at Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival on 31 Jul
This Norwegian trio dressed in smart, shiny suits played slow, mesmerising music and had a shade of intensity about them unlike anything else at the Festival. Their very quiet music opened the door to a world of new sounds especially from Jarle Vespestad on drums who danced around his under-populated drum kit with ease and found scintillating new cymbal effects. Band leader Gustavsen looked like a greasy introvert but, surprisingly, was a charming showman and kept us on the brink of anticipation for most of the performance. Once or twice a song or 'hymn' as he referred to it held for too long and became exhausting, but overall it was a low-key, yet passionate set from these young Scandinavian stars. TB tw rating 4/5
Evan Christopher, John Bunch Duo at Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival on 1 Aug
There wasn't much connection between these two musicians. They were different ages, they have different styles and they didn't have particularly similar tastes. There wasn't any reason why they should be performing in the intimate confines of a duo. Christopher is an excellent clarinetist but didn't have a strong enough stage presence to entertain the crowd by himself and he didn't give off much of a rapport with the octogenarian pianist. Bunch was excellent on the piano but the duo format proved a little demanding for him. The pair went through some nice standards from Berlin, Gershwin, Ellington and Waller but there wasn't much happening in their interpretations and the music never rose above the level of quite pleasant. TB tw rating 2/5