COMPOSERS: Various
LABELS: eastwest
PERFORMER: Joseph (p); Jason Rebello (p); Johnny Griffin (ts); Eddie Daniels (clarinet); Alec Dankworth (b)
CATALOGUE NO: 0630-11370-2 DDD
It says much about Julian Joseph’s maturity and sophistication that at 29 he has ascended to a hallowed venue such as the Wigmore. In this third release as leader, taken from a series of four dates there last year, the Londoner leads drummerless trios, sharing the honours with guest players.
He delivers in any setting: swinging furiously in his own ‘Hard Cash’; stepping sensitively through a standard like ‘Soul Eyes’; or comping coolly across Johnny Griffin’s ‘The Cat’. A self-confessed debt to Herbie Hancock, whose influence in torrential improvisation marks much of Joseph’s work, is paid back in a beautifully paced cover of ‘Maiden Voyage’. Garry Booth