Piano summiteers from left to right above: Tom Cawley, John Turville, Richard Fairhurst, Liam Noble, Kit Downes, Gwilym Simcock, Michael Wollny and Tom Hewson

One sign of the affection held by jazz fans for the late John Taylor who died in the summer and to whom this concert was dedicated was the big audience turn-out at the Purcell Room. The place was packed.

Another was the sheer respect and appreciation all the players taking part expressed for JT, in many cases a former teacher and playing partner.

It was quite a turn-out too of mainly leading British pianists drawn from a generation or even two removed from Taylor’s own. Organised by Christine Allen of Basho Records and compered by Jazz FM broadcaster Helen Mayhew who conducted brief interviews with the participants before each played, the format of the evening revolved mainly around piano duos. There were solo spots too and the appearance of guest saxophonist Trish Clowes who performed with German pianist Michael Wollny. Like a lot of the players on the stage Wollny had been taught by Taylor, just one indication of his international influence.

Michael Wollny and Trish Clowes

Opening with John Turville and newcomer Tom Hewson, Liam Noble later played solo and further pairings included besides Clowes and Wollny, Tom Cawley and Kit Downes, Richard Fairhurst and Gwilym Simcock and ultimately Simcock and Michael Wollny in a dazzling display of power and exuberance to draw the concert to a close.

The range of styles was fascinating to observe, the perfect opportunity to witness the sheer individualism of the jazz piano scene currently. Most opaque and individualistic was Liam Noble whose dissonant swoops and deconstructions have a certain unique grandeur to them, whether cleverly connecting Taylor’s ‘Arrivée’ from Azimuth days to the Irving Berlin standard ‘How Deep is the Ocean’ with even a little flavour of ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face’ sewn in intricately at the end.

Michael Wollny and Gwilym Simcock

Later when Noble returned with ‘I’m Old Fashioned’ all cascading abstractions and thinking out loud there was a great deal of spontaneity to what we heard and this was a factor throughout the concert. Gwilym Simcock added plenty of passion on Kenny Wheeler’s ‘Sly Eyes’ in duo with Richard Fairhurst but later the concert really caught fire in Simcock’s duos with Michael Wollny as the pair freely improvised, the sheer virtuosity and empathy of the pair something of a feat of the imagination delivered in real time. A fine way to remember John Taylor. Clearly his spirit and musical example lives on. Stephen Graham

Photos: Roger Thomas