Denys Baptiste at the 606 Club

Denys Baptiste
606 Club on Oh! Jazz
London
August 24, 2023

There is something about jazz and basements, they just seem to work so well together. Maybe it is the intimacy the low lights and low ceilings confer. The 606 Club is a quintessential example of the cellar music venue. It is tucked away down an alley in the Chelsea area of London. Find the door below an unassuming sign, down the dim staircase and you find yourself in an intimate room where the musicians are almost playing in the front row. The "Six" has been going for nearly 50 years and is a leading light on the London jazz scene. Another leading light on the London jazz scene, Denys Baptiste, was the principal attraction on this occasion.

Baptiste is a highly versatile saxophonist, often incorporating ideas from outside jazz into his repertoire. A winner of many awards, starting off in 1999 with a Mercury Music Prize for An Album Of The Year and a MOBO award for Best Jazz Act. He has worked with some high profile artists including McCoy Tyner, Julian Joseph and Andrew Hill. Tonight, he was playing with a quartet specifically assembled for this show. This included upcoming pianist Sultan Stevenson, himself no stranger to awards, having won the Parliamentary Jazz Award 2023 for Newcomer of the Year. Completing the line-up were experienced drummer Joel Barford and bassist Larry Bartley, a long-time collaborator of Baptiste.

Baptiste's sax slowly drifts in on the 17 minute opener, "There Is No Greater Love." There is an almost casual pacing at first before he gradually picks up the pace and builds a long fluid solo, pushing the limits of the saxophone. Stevenson comps before taking over and repeating the trick, building the pace through his thoughtful improvisation. Bartley and Barford also get their turn in the spotlight in an engaging start to the evening.

Baptiste goes back to his first album, the post-bop Be Where You Are (Dune Records, 1999), for the next track, "Shades of Green." This has a delightful solo from Stevenson (always wearing his trademark bucket hat) before another lively and lyrical Baptiste solo, complete with speedy clusters of notes. There is a neat piano and bass conversation before the track closes. This is followed by a ballad, there always has to be, "an obligatory ballad," according to Baptiste. The one chosen is Jimmy McHugh's "Say It (Over and Over Again)," popularised on the John Coltrane album, Ballads (Impulse Records, 1963). It is superbly performed with simple and elegant restraint. One of the highlights of the evening.

This is followed by an energetic version of Chick Corea's tribute to the pianist Bud Powell, unimaginatively titled "Bud Powell." This allowed Baptiste's energy to find expression in a long solo coupled with marvellous swerves and sustained tones, it is met with spontaneous applause. Stevenson also step up to the plate with a dizzying swinging solo showing great use of space and timing. The final track of the set, Thelonious Monk's "Evidence," complete with Monk's usual angular melodic twists, gave Baptiste a platform for some inventive improvisations to close the evening out.

This was a wholly enjoyable set, excellently underpinned by Bartley and Barford, an ever giving rhythm section. Stevenson was able to improvise fluently and seemingly effortlessly throughout the evening while Baptiste's expressive virtuosity and melodic accessibility made this an evening of inclusive contemporary music in an intimate setting.