Thanks to all who reached our first guest band session of the year on Sunday at Floripa. It was great to see so many smiling faces in the building as Fenchurch 3io took the stage, and we were all treated to two hours of simply awesome groove-orientated music from the young trio. Eight hours earlier we’d taken a call from drummer Chris Draper who sadly had to bow out of the session through illness, but thankfully after pulling some strings collectively we were able to keep the gig on, albeit with a slightly different line-up.  Without Chris, who is an integral part of the Fenchurch sound, the remaining members of the band, Clem Rooney and Moyses Dos Santos drafted in Marijus Aleksa on drum duty and set about arranging another set of tracks that afternoon.
Resident Sid Ford warmed things up nicely before the live act, with a deft selection of Gil Scott-Heron’s finer moments over a two-hour period and a little ‘Ahunk Ahunk’ from Messrs Jones and Lewis kicking things up a notch just as the band were preparing to play. On stage, the boys also invited regular Jazz Meet saxman Jake Telford to contribute sax for much of the session, so the trio plus one tore through two pitch perfect performances of almost completely original compositions, taking in elements of contemporary jazz, cinematic soul and an occasional hip hop kick. Guitarist Miles James (who has recently formed part of UK soul sensation Michael Kiwanuka’s band) stepped into the fray for the second set, bringing added elements of a little jazz guitar to the forefront. Needless to say it all worked out fine, and we’ll be looking to reschedule the full trio again shortly once Chris has recovered.
We also of course welcomed another special guest in the form of DJÂ Jake Holloway, who acquitted himself nicely in the DJ box during the break, and a little after the band had finished at 11pm. He’s kindly supplied us with his tracklists from the night, so if you’re in for a bit of trainspotting, you can go dig for these jazz, Latin and Brazilian gems yourself. The Ella Fitzgerald Beatles’ cover (below) sounded particularly nice over the Floripa sound system.
JAKE HOLLOWAY FIRST SET
Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 – Upa, Neguinho (A&M)
O Donnel Levy – Joni (Groove Merchant)
Harlem River Drive – Idle Hands (Pt.1) (Roulette)
Gato Barbieri – Fiesta (A&M)
Jorge Ben – Comanche (Phillips)
Tito Putente – Black Brothers (Tico)
Irakere – Balalao Con Pan (Areito)
Som Tres – Homenagem A Mongo (Odeon)
Doris – Beatmaker (EMI Japan)
Ella Fitzgerald – Can’t Buy Me Love (Verve)
Gangstarr – Jazz Thing (CBS)
The Gap Mangione Trio & Orchestra – Diana in The Autumn Wind (GRC)
JAKE HOLLOWAY SECOND SET
Roy Porter – Hip City (Vistone)
Wilson Das Neves – Pick Up The Pieces (Underground)
Bobbi Humphrey – Uno Esta (Blue Note)
Macos Valle – Mentira (EMI Brasil)
Edu Lobo – Zanzibar (A&M)
Billy Wooten – Chicango (Art)
Banda Black Rio – Gafieira Universal (Soul Jazz)
We’re back this coming Sunday with a Brazilian Jazz Extravaganza. Two sets of live percussive instrumental jazz and samba from The Jazz Meet Band (joined this week by Incognito percussionist Joao Gaetano) and a special DJ set from Happy Jazz Radio’s Adrian Leach (who it has to be said has some crazy records) in the Floripa box, alongside resident Nik Weston.
We hope you can join us. Just imagine this LIVE with added sax, bass and keys… we’re excited!