MARK WADE TRIO AT HIDDEN ROOMS

Hey Mr. Bass Man! Remember him? He was in full bass glory at the Hidden Rooms tonight, we got a glimpse of the vital versatility of this remarkable musician and his totally talented trio -pianist Marco Marconi was a brilliant feature of the delightful presentation along with a superb Matt Fishwick on Drums – they performed with flair for a super-keen audience.

Mark Wade is a cool New York City jazzer and he has a long-running connection with classical music. The swing, the drive and the top level performance gave us pacey Bossa Nova number, a gorgeous standard from Dizzy Gillespie and – intriguingly – his own interpretation of past music greats. There was a warm informed homage to Wayne Shorter called ‘Short’ alongside Mark Wade’s own composition ‘ It gets Late Early’ – my hunch for a future standard with its warm positive well shaped feel.

And the imaginative oeuvre doesn’t stop there. Mark Wade has spent the last eight years in a study of classical music’s link to jazz. A bassist with the Bronx Opera Orchestra, he has selected themes from an entire range , and transposed them into the discipline of jazz. Bach’s Jesu , Joy of Man’s Desiring by sounds an unpromising choice for this treatment , but the Trio made it swing  in a way  Johann Sebastian would surely ( after the initial shock of the new ) appreciate.

David Gower and the Modern Jazz Club do not fail to surprise but this was a booking choice to match the best of their selection coming up to their 50th Birthday.

Mark Wade’s new ground- breaking album it out Tomorrow. 27th 3