The Partager festival returns to London this week, and kicks off tomorrow at Shoreditch jazz club Charlie Wright’s International. First off are Jean-Michel Pilc and bassist François Moutin, who will be joined by American drummer Ari Hoenig. After the opening night at Charlie Wright’s the festival moves to the Vortex in Dalston. The first gig there sees Nelson Veras, the French guitarist and former Steve Coleman sideman, in duo with Belgian drummer Stéphane Galland on Friday. Their set will be followed by another duo, made up of Russian expat Zhenya Strigalev and Birmingham-based tabla player Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari aka Pinky.

Following the release of Montauk Variations, pianist Matthew Bourne’s first solo studio album released earlier this month, Bourne plays Partager with French clarinettist Laurent Dehors in the first of two collaborations at the Vortex on Saturday. After their set, free-improv great saxophonist Evan Parker is on stage in duo with French prepared piano player Benoît Delbecq.

The festival’s closing night is on Monday 27 February, again at the Vortex, bringing together another pair of duo sets. The first, between drummer Minino Garay and pianist Baptiste Trotignon, promises to be a blend of jazz, tango and world music. The second set moves into the realms of free jazz , with British trumpeter Tom Arthurs and French pianist Denis Badault.

– Chris Hyde-Harrison

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