The Jazz Dynamos

PRESENTED BY ANNIE'S JAZZ

Originally formed just  over two decades ago as a side project while working with Ray Gelato, they  worked with a number of different vocalists before Lucy Randell joined ten years ago and they haven’t looked back since. 

They specialise in creating jazz re-arrangements of songs by an eclectic mix of artists such as The Police, Bowie, and Dolly Parton, to name just a few, but to call them “covers” would be to do them a woeful disservice. Far more than that, these are artistic re-imaginings of songs, many of which better the originals and the breadth of the extensive repertoire is staggering. 

As lead vocalist, Randell has an effortlessly charming persona to go with her agile and exacting vocals, which make excellent work of the more challenging arrangements. At times she invokes the essence of Astrud Gilberto’s famous The Girl From Ipanema during playful Latin segments, paired with her similarly playful percussion. She moves from sultry samba songs into soulful numbers with excellent dexterity showing an enchanting emotional depth which grips the audience throughout. 

The arrangements themselves, by Mark Adelman on keyboard are as exquisite as they are surprising, many of which include seamless mergers of seemingly incompatible songs. A favourite of which includes a version of Pure Imagination with sections of Bowie’s Starman and musical motifs that shouldn’t work, but they do. Their arrangement takes ownership of the songs in such a way that the original versions sometimes seem dull by comparison. 

The quartet is completed with Anders Janes on double bass, Dominique Metz on drums, and Stewart Curtis on pretty much every wind instrument going (including sax, flute, piccolo and clarinet). The group play with a panache and style only achievable as a tight-knit group listening to and working off each other flawlessly. 

TICKETS: £16

DOORS: 6:00pm  |  MUSIC: 8pm  |  FOOD AVAILABLE UNTIL 7:30pm