In Through the Outram

I've been feeling a bit rough this week but made the effort to catch Dylan Howe's Unity4 down at The Cinnamon Club in leafy Bowdon. The band is essentially a homage to the classic Unity album by Larry Young, one I have to confess I wasn't previously familiar with. I was keen to make it as the quartet features Mike Outram on guitar. He's another one of our local boys made good, now being firmly ensconced as a premier fixture on the London jazz scene and is currently also a Professor of Guitar at Trinity College of Music - not bad eh?

It was a great outfit and there was some pretty impressive playing. Some of the tune heads were very complex and seemed incredibly hard to play but the players brushed them off with apparent ease. Some great improvising all round from Tony Kofi on sax, Dylan Howe on drums and Ross Stanley on Hammond. I like Mike's sound and feel, and he can nail a tasty fast run or two. I have a bit of a love hate one with the Hammond but Ross Stanley's swirling thick chords didn't overwhelm the sound. The Hammond is a key feature of the Unity CD and essential part of this group so I can't really complain. A good way to spend an evening down in Bowdon.