Matt Anderson: Live at Leeds Jazz Festival

To appreciate the synergy and spirit of a band it often pays to hear them play live. The quality of their playing and their abilities to interact are laid bare. Releasing their first live recording, the Matt Anderson Quartet can do so confidently having spent nearly a decade touring and recording together.

Live at Leeds Jazz Festival was made at HEART in Headingly as part of the 2023 Leeds Jazz Festival. It features two tracks from the band's previous release, The Town and the City (Hidden Threads, 2022), reviewed here. Also included are four new compositions from Anderson. The sound quality (courtesy of sound engineer, James Hamilton) is excellent.

The band members met whilst studying at the Royal Academy of Music, where Anderson now teaches. It consists of bassist Will Harris, drummer Jay Davis and pianist Alberto Palau. Between them they have shared studios or stages with such artists as Alex Hitchcock, Charles McPherson and Ivo Neame.

Opening with "The Conversation," the energy is immediately apparent. Davis and Harris set a complex African-influenced rhythm, Anderson's bustling tenor sax climbs above setting up a neat contrast with Palau's sweet-toned piano. "New Old Blues" is perfectly titled with a bluesy and relaxed late-night feel. The whole has a vintage atmosphere and oozes sultry swing. The changes of tempo are neatly handled and there are inventive piano and bass solos.

Palau's composition, "Northern Journey," was one of the stand-outs from the previous album. It makes a smooth transition to a live set and opens with plaintive sax leading into Harris' fine bass work. Palau and Davis play combinations that suggest movement while Anderson's soprano sax explores folk-influenced soundscapes and Palau's solo sparkles. As the driving and optimistic "Green Shoots" shows, the quartet utilise their skill in sounding fresh and contemporary at the same time as wearing their influences from the 1950s and '60s proudly.

A tribute to Wayne Shorter follows. Named after his school nickname, "Mr Weird," the band deliberately capture phrases and spacing in their music to echo the kind of mood that Shorter could create. The set closes with Anderson showing influences from Kenny Wheeler in "Teleforce." Davis catching the ear in his drum fills and conversation with the sax.

The quartet's interactivity make this a terrific live set. Individually and collectively, the performances are first-rate. Anderson takes his influences from Wheeler, Sonny Rollins and George Coleman but adds his own freshness and open approach showing a vibrant, warm tone throughout. The material is well-chosen and sequenced making for an engaging listen.

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