THE ALEXANDRA RIDOUT QUARTET AT HIDDEN ROOMS
Alexandra Ridout - All photographs by Mike Harris
Cambridge Modern Jazz loves to aim high. The David Lloyd team have decades of savvy speculation on the scene – and they never miss a trick. Which is how Alexandra Ridout and her travelling New York band ended up in the groovy atmosphere of Hidden Rooms last Thursday. With a high end well- travelled quartet at her fingertips it was bound to be a winner. Superlatives don’t cut it with this bandleader. At sixteen she won the BBC Jazz Musician of the Year, and it’s been one fab gig after another ever since. Now at 26, she attracts plaudits like bees to the honey
David Sirkis by Mike Harris
For long term admirers at Cambridge Modern Jazz the build-up did not disappoint. Alexandra is a versatile player with a plethora of styles. She began with a virtuosic solo that blasted the front row with the thrills they’d come to hear. Brilliant breath control rivals the worrisome pouchiness of Dizzie Gillespie whose face always looked like a n over inflated balloon. Alexandra is effortless but even a youngster with the technique of an angel must flag after a full session – plus encore. She brushed the strain away when I caught her coming off stage, but she didn’t disagree performance was a titanic effort,
David Sirkis - by Mike Harris
“I get used to it” she clipped, with a good-humoured shrug. I guess she does, but her schedule has been punishing, and Cambridge was the last show on the road.
Yvonne Rogers by Mike Harris
But Alexandra was not the only star of the show. Elegant pianist Yvonne Rogers was lyrical on piano. The contrast between the demands of the horn as against the smooth soothing expertise was superb. “She was heavenly” sighed one fan on exit. Quite accurate. Simon Wilson on bass formed a consistent collusion with the trumpet, again softer when needed, swung hard when the quartet got going. And David Sirkis ‘ drums complemented the ensemble wonderfully well. No sign of fatigue after months on the road, the rhythm kept going.
Simon Wilson - by Mike Harris
“Please buy some CDs”, Alexandra pleaded,” We ‘re trying to get rid of them now” Possibly even by Jazz fund raisin’, has to be the most off hand sales pitch on record.
Yet the woman is a genius no mistake. We heard her in deep melodic Chet Baker style segueing into some sharp original own compositions. Hard to corner just where the brilliance begins and ends – the accuracy of the notes, the effortless slides, the total control over the instrument. And in the end she won over the entire cheering audience.
They are all off now. The New Yorkers head for Europe ( who can blame them) and Alexandra, she goes where the wind blows whenever and whenever she chooses.
