Denys Baptiste’s Triumvirate & Nat Birchall Quintet, Vortex Jazz Club

One of the best London jazz gigs 2014: UK's premier saxophonists join forces at Vortex Jazz Club.

The Vortex Jazz Club hosts two of the UK’s premier saxophonists for this exciting double bill. 

Denys Baptiste makes his appearance with Triumvirate, a trio completed by drummer Moses Boyd and Larry Bartley, the bassist who featured on his 1999 Mercury Music Prize winning album Be Where You Are.

Formed in 2012, the ensemble marks a change from the saxophonist whose previous work includes large scale composition projects such as Let Freedom Ring!, a passionate tribute to Martin Luther King that toes the line between gospel, blues and free jazz and is seen by many as his magnum opus. 

Working with contemporary or near contemporary material from outside the traditional jazz canon, including tracks by Gnarls Barkley, Bill Withers and neo-soul pioneer D’Angelo, Triumvirate try to present familiar melodies and riffs in ways that are fresh and unexpected. The results take the form of extended improvisations for all three members of the trio, showcasing Baptiste’s velvety tenor sound and allowing the spontaneous creativity of the bass and drum team to come to the fore. 

Though lesser known on account of his infrequent trips to the capital, tenor and soprano player Nat Birchall is of similarly high calibre. Described by BBC DJ Gilles Peterson as “one of the best musicians in the UK” and known for a soulfulness and spirituality that owes much to his immersion in music of John Coltrane, he’s accompanied by a quartet comprising some of the north of England’s finest.

Both ensembles thrive in a live setting and though their sets are to be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3, it will be no substitute for being there in the flesh.