THIS CONCERT REPLACES ZIROBOP due to the ill health of Enzo Zirilli.
“Hermeto Hermeto Hermeto” features a dream squad of the UK’s finest young contemporary jazz musicians (Sam Watts-piano; Misha Mullov-Abbado– bass; Rob Luft-guitar & Marius Rodrigues-drums), joyfully celebrating the music of the hugely influential – and playful – Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal.
Pascoal’s bona fides are much too extensive to detail here but suffice to say no less than Miles Davis called him “the most impressive musician in the world”, and to give a sense of his style, Hermeto was dubbed O Bruxo (“The Sorcerer”) in reference to, among other things his use of household objects including kettles and toys in his orchestrations. This same sense of playfulness is very much in evidence as this skilled new quintet navigates nimbly though these complex arrangements with infectious enthusiasm and impressive precision. A BBC Radio 3 “New Generation” Artist and winner of the Kenny Wheeler Jazz Prize, Misha Mullov-Abbado also co-directs the Whittingham Award winning Patchwork Jazz Orchestra, while Kenny Wheeler Jazz prize winner Rob Luft recently released his debut album on Edition Records. Pianist Sam Watts received the Humphrey Lyttelton Prize among many accolades, & Marius Rodrigues is one of the most in demand Brazilian jazz drummers/percussionists in the UK.
Rob Luft is well known to us at the Vortex, most recently for a marvellous gig with singer Elina Duni. He follows in the footsteps of Misha, as a Kenny Wheeler prize winner, and recently chosen to be in the latest batch of BBC New Generation Artists. But he is really his own man and has an individuality that reflects that of Hermeto.
This new outfit simply overflows with talent and is a pleasure to hear from the first note to the last.
Here is some of their music: