The talented trio of drummer Aidan Amman, double bassist James Oasten and the BBC Young Jazz musician of the year finalist Nick Manz played a concert of concentrated jazz and their own complex compositions.
The grandeur of the Guildhall proved to be an excellent choice of venue in matching the acoustic sound of the trio, with a flavour that owed as much to the Norwegian and ECM label jazz style than it did to anything from America.
Their pastoral long form compositions and almost telepathic interplay kicked things along, with a starting of Blues on the Corner being a suitable warm up, with loose limbed piano runs and some switching between time signatures.
James Oasten’s Lock In was a boisterous number, but it was the three pieces in the second set that showed the pedigree of the trio. Nick Manz’s 12, Aidan Amann’s Peception and James Oasten’s Rise and Fall showed that the local jazz scene has three names and three writers and performers that are worth keeping an eye on in the future.
