There’s no sign of their album just yet – they’re due to launch their debut at the London Jazz Festival on 15 November – for now let’s do the introductions and savour the prospect of the deliciously named Electric Biddle.
But who might this Biddle be? Well, they gig in France quite a bit but they’re really a London band, the main connection in that they’re named after their “home venue”, Clapton pub Biddle Bros, where they have been playing regularly since forming in 2012.
Their best known member is edgy fortysomething French saxophonist Julien Lourau who has been around since the 1990s as a solo leader releasing a string of widely admired albums mainly for the Label Bleu label, collaborating with the likes of Bojan Z and Nöel Akchoté.
Joining Lourau in the band, which has a highly condensed post-bop and jazz-rock outlook that skilfully traverses an electronic-influenced freely improvised terrain, is inveterate Austrian jammer guitarist Hannes Riepler who debuted three years ago with The Brave. He used to lead the jam at the now closed-down Charlie Wrights bar venue in Hoxton and for the last few years has fronted the super-vibey Sunday night weekly session Downstairs at London’s Vortex (mentioned here).
The third member of the band is pianist Dave Maric known for his work with Steve Martland and Mike Westbrook and the line-up is completed by Jim Hart here playing drums rather than his customary vibes (heard in such bands as the Cloudmakers trio). More on the band as we go along but for now you can listen to Electric Biddle captured live in Paris, above