Marylebone’s Cockpit theatre saw the launch last night of Jazz in the Round, the first in a new monthly club night series featuring cutting edge jazz and improv, curated by broadcaster Jez Nelson. With its 1970s design and small performance space redolent of a bygone era of experimental theatre, the evening had a holistic feel, with swirling light show effects in the bar where Nelson was DJ-ing spinning Coltrane’s ‘Blue Train’ and slabs of early jazz-rock on pristine analogue vinyl.

Jazz in the Round summons the spirit of the legendary populist classical music TV presenter Humphrey Burton who presided over shows at the Cockpit when the theatre was still in its infancy, and Nelson mindful of the need to respect Burton’s pioneering spirit and his compulsion to present something fresh opened with a trio led by young cerebral flugelhorn player Yazz Ahmed. Her precise at-times Arabic influenced music and take on Janek Gwizdala material aided and abetted by contrapuntal vibes lines unfolded impressively stark melodic ideas.

Stuart McCallum’s solo guitar set that followed was paradoxically the most crowded set with the Mancunian playing most of his tunes with his coat on, reminiscing wryly about teaching the chords of ‘Wonderwall’ to kids in Manchester’s Hillcrest school which lent its name to the best tune of the set (it’s on last year’s Distilled) although ‘Softly as in a Morning Sunrise’ was good if a bit truncated. McCallum’s guitar was all set against the swell of his own self generated strings and beats which allowed his interesting tunes plenty of room; the switch to acoustic guitar at the end was a masterstroke.

Topping the bill was Black Top, in trio mode, a totally improvised set by resurgent tenor and soprano saxophonist Steve Williamson, pianist/ keyboardist Pat Thomas and Orphy Robinson on marimba. Thomas and Robinson had a deep empathy that manifested itself by blocked out dense chunky Cecil Taylor-like chords that Williamson was able to bounce off with abstract lullabies and piercing asides. Complex and impressive Black Top as a trio works on so many more levels than when Williamson and Thomas opened, playing as a duo, for Steve Coleman at the London Jazz Festival. The shorter second piece with its sharp accents and intervalic leaps was worth waiting for. Black Top laughingly calls itself “step dub”: more like a big step up.

– Stephen Graham

The next Jazz in the Round on Monday 27 February features Sons of Kemet

Follow @Jazzwise