Aaron Liddard at The Maddermarket, Norwich
A busy night music in the music city. Gabby Rivers, The Dead Kennedys and Aaron Liddard’s Nylon Man all in town at once. A head spinning selection.
The Norwich Jazz Club hosted event in the Maddermarket Theatre bar, provided a chance to hear some contemporary jazz, rather than legacy jazz, as Simon Brown, Norwich’s jazz impresario, describes interpretations, or recreations of Stan Getz classics. I had made my decision some weeks ago, so headed over to The Lanes through the unseasonable rain.
The Nylon Man project, as Liddard calls it, is a post-pandemic, creation. The setlist had been written with elements of contemplation and celebration in consideration of what has now passed. Certainly, the WHO announcement of the end of the Corona-19 pandemic this week, was something to celebrate.
Liddard dedicated the evening’s first song to Chick Corea, who died in 2021. It was a gentle start to the evening’s entertainment. The opening of the song, Corean Castaway, gave us an early opportunity to hear Giulia Marelli’s bell-clear voice, before Liddard developed a languid tenor sax solo, over Michael Searle’s steady pulsing bass and Eric Young’s sympathetic percussion work. The tune was picked up by Giulio Romano Maliasi on guitar, before being returned to Marelli to lead the tune to the coda, via a bright piano solo from Isaac Asumadu.
Some of Liddard’s songs have a marked break before recommencing. This sounds at times like the start of a completely new song, until recognisable elements resurface and the audience re-tunes. It is an interesting feature of Liddard’s work and demands concentrated listening.
I have heard it said before by visiting musicians, Norwich Jazz Club is a ‘listening audience.’ The NJC is not a members’ club, simply a number of subscribers to a free e-mail news service, that keeps interested parties informed of local jazz events. Even so, Aaron Liddard was keen to express his appreciation of the audience for their attention.
It is debateable whether the Maddermarket Theatre bar is the best setting for a band like the six-piece Nylon Man. It was a sensible size venue given that ticket sales for a quality act were a tad disappointing. There were one or two sound issues and the bar was a minor distraction at times, as glasses were clinked back onto racks, canned Guinness was opened and one or two people chatted breezily with bar staff mid-show, while ordering more drinks. However, these were minor details. Where else might a seated audience, of around one hundred souls, be situated comfortably in town, The Masonic Lodge?
Tonight, Liddard’s band appeared a little tentative at times. They sometimes seemed to be looking for the lead from the big man, However, when any of them picked up a solo part, each demonstrated great facility and a displayed a lot of heart in their playing.
There were frequent moments in the set when I became aware that the music had lifted me from wherever it is I was, to a higher plane. Tone, texture, rhythm and melody, all in sync and somehow taking me with them. This was particularly true when Searle took up his cue on Chicken Soup and walked us into a dream-like place with his electric bass.
With Asumadu and Liddard sharing the keyboard work, chipping out a simple set of repeated chords, decorated by the sparkles generated by the Yamaha MO6 synthesizer, Searle was given a firm acoustic platform to launch from. This was a beautiful, perfectly pitched bass solo. All the while Young’s drumming, with mallets and brushes, hats and snares ran alongside, like a well-loved family hound.
When Young was let off the leash, he supplemented the artistic endeavours of the band, rather than just supporting them with his beats. I would describe Eric Young as a musician who plays drums. He is certainly more than an exceptionally musical drummer. This may be semantics on my part, but I hope you understand what I am trying to get at.
Aaron Liddard has drawn together a strong team for this tour. They are a band capable of hitting the sweet spots, but he was not content with that. He encouraged audience participation too.
Towards the end of the second set, Liddard co-opted us to provide handclaps for his Cuba-inspired number Manana, (not manaña) and then to sing, when he drew on his experiences of Thailand throughout the song titled 1,000,000. The audience willingly obliged, with the sung contribution being the most enthusiastically enjoined.
Liddard does not claim to write his music. He says that he downloads what appears in his head before transcribing it for performance. Which is how he described conjuring up Manana, after explaining that this means playing music with a good balance between technical mastery and heart.
The Nylon Man band played two sets, each in excess of an hour. At the end, by invitation, the majority of the audience were on their feet for the encore, My Mean Bop. A suitable tune to finish on, given the overall feel of the music played over the evening.
This was a gig with some thrilling moments. The enthusiasm that Aaron Liddard carried into the room permeated the performance space and the audience left in good humour after a long and enjoyable evening.
Liddard takes his musicians to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club on 9th and 10th May for the late, late show. They will be without singer, Giulia Marelli, so the gigs there will have a slightly more funky feel to them, but if you can get down to 47 Frith Street, Soho for one of those nights, I am sure that you will have a lot of fun.
