Geoff Simkins with Terry Seabrook and Paul Whitten, The Snowdrop, Lewes, 11th July

Brighton-based alto saxophonist Geoff Simkins was in his element last night - a small venue, an attentive audience and sensitive musicians to support him. It was the perfect opportunity to enjoy Geoff's music and reflect on the approach to improvisation that informs his teaching (there were several of Geoff's students in the audience, myself included).

Geoff's approach to approach to improvisation is consistent and purposeful. I'll try and summarise it like so:

• The foundation of his flowing line is a long, even exhalation of breath  - the breath vibrates the reed and the sax keys select the notes
• Each breath lasts maybe 10 or so seconds, long enough to develop a melodic idea across quite a by number of bars (depending on the tempo of the tune) and across sections of the tune too
• Each pause for breath is an opportunity to take stock, adapt the idea or perhaps change tack in response to what is going on around him or a new thought

The way Geoff develops musical ideas is significant to his style. Rather than following the chords changes and letting them dictate changes in ideas, he holds on to an idea (e.g. a short musical phrase) and adapts it to the new surroundings as the chords change. This might mean playing the same phrase but changing the pitch, sometimes fitting in with then new chord, sometimes deliberately at odds but ultimately seeking a resolution. The relationship between the notes is sometimes dictated by reason (actually, that idea will work in this context too) or art (if I play these notes against this chord it's going to sound quite unusual). Each breath is a thread that holds the ideas together.

It's clear that Geoff does not always know where a phrase it going to end up before he pauses for breath. Occasionally it sounds like he thinking his way out of the situation he finds himself in without losing the plot - solving a logic problem. Geoff rarely loses the plot in musical terms. He admitted to me that he occasionally runs out of ideas before he runs out of breath. This relationship between the length of the breath and the length of a line is an interesting one, worth investigating, even on guitar or piano.

This is pretty hard stuff and few people can do it like Geoff. It takes a lot of discipline to hang onto and develop those lines. It may be habit by now, but it takes a lot of practice too. I think it was Al Cohn who said: "If I don't practice for a day, I notice it; if I don't practice for two days, the other musicians notice it; if I don't practice for three days, the audience notices it." Geoff must be pretty disciplined in his practice regime. It's not just doing the things he does so well, it's all the bad habits he avoids - for example, using ideas sparingly and not wasting them by throwing them away too soon.

The vehicle for Geoff's improvisation is standard and modern jazz originals with interesting chord sequences - How Deep Is The Ocean, Donna Lee, Passport/Anthropology, Sophisticated Lady, Little, Willie Leaps, Cherokee, I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face, Beija Flor a variation on All The Things You Are.

Some of these tunes force obvious comparisons with alto players who have shared his approach. I know Paul Desmond's version of I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face. Desmond has a beautiful tone and a rhapsodic quality to his lines. Geoff's tone is harsher and he often leans on the altered, non-diatonic notes which sometimes gives his playing a sardonic quality. He's perhaps closer to Lee Konitz but, to my ear, Konitz has a slightly mournful, elegiac quality. The truth is that it's unfair to label Geoff a "cool school" or Konitz/Desmond soundalike. Geoff's voice is is his own.

This was of course an ensemble performance and Terry Seabrook accompanied very sensitively and tastefully. The volume was just right and he kept to a path that complemented Geoff - mixing chords and lines, doing that six over four thing that pianists love. Likewise, Paul Whitten played very sensitively. His tone is sweet and woody - not too much bass or treble. I really like Paul's solo style. Unlike Geoff's, his lines are more like those you would want to sing. Where Geoff would quote a tune (Moondance for example), he will then play about with it. Paul just carries a nice melody without messing with it. I like that approach too.

I also liked the way they ended a few of the tunes. You could hear Geoff's final note dying away, Paul would bow a note in harmony, Geoff's note would reduce to a whisper then disappear.

Live at the Snowdrop, Lewes, 20th September

It was an enjoyable gig at the Snowdrop on Monday where I was playing in the classic organ trio format with Terry Seabrook (organ) and Dominic O'Meehgan (drums). Terry comp'ed in the classic organ style of the likes of Brother Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff with his soloing style being more reminiscent of the modern jazz stylings of Larry Young (as witnessed on the fantastic Unity album). Dominic combined the fire and energy of Art Blakey with the polyrhythmic dexterity of Tony Williams.

I recorded the gig on a little Edirol digital recorder. The tracks below are just a representative selection from the set.

Video of Bobby Wellins: It Never Entered My Mind

Niall Burke filmed It Never Entered My Mind at the recent Brunswick gig reviewed below. Sublime.

Bobby Wellins with the Terry Seabrook Trio featuring Spike Wells & Dan Sheppard, The Brunswick, 18 April

Introducing the first set tenor player Bobby Wellins explained that he hadn't played in a while before delivering a blistering set of Thelonius Monk classics, segueing from Straight No Chaser to In Walked Bud to Monk's Mood and on though tunes such as Little Rootie Tootie and Blue Monk. In all, almost an hour of non-stop jazz.

There's something about Monk's tunes that encourages improvisers to take on Monkish qualities - thoughtful, surprising phrases, large intervals, dissonance. They all steered away from the obvious notes - Bobby Wellins never loses his fantastic sense of swing, pianist Terry Seabrook releasing a tumult of ideas, bassist Dan Sheppard developing interesting melodic ideas and drummer Spike Wells throwing in rich, complex rhythmic patterns. Collectively Bobby rightly referred to the band as "great improvisers".

The second set kicked off with My Funny Valentine as a waltz, moving to Green Dolphin Street and Mad About the Boy (according to Bobby, written for Douglas Fairbanks Junior by Noel Coward). One of my favourite tunes of the evening was the ballad It Never Entered My Mind, a song of solitude and regret played from the back of the stage, sans mic, by Bobby, with the acoustic sound of the sax reflecting the fragility of the lyric ("And once you told me I was mistaken/That I'd awaken with the sun/And order orange juice for one/It never entered my mind"). He also did a great, upbeat version of Neil Hefti's theme from Neil Simon's The Odd Couple with Walter Matthau as Oscar & Jack Lemon as Felix (Oscar: I know him. He'll kill himself just to spite me. Then his ghost will come back, following me around the apartment, haunting and cleaning, haunting and cleaning, haunting and cleaning...).

From the photo you'll see that I had no view of the drums. I did however have the delightful sight of Bobby and Terry looking on at Spike as he delivered another knock-out solo, a look that I can only describe as pleasure mixed with pride mixed with the anticipation of more pleasant surprises to come.

It was a great gig ending with Bobby graciously thanking the audience for turning up to watch the boys "fight the good fight". What's more, it was free!

Just one negative - the use of the PA. Why would you want to chuck the bass, piano and sax through PA  speakers in such as small venue? My experience of The Brunswick and similar venues is to get the sound guy to make minimal us if the PA for essentials such as voice, horns and piano if required. Musicians of this calibre can find their own balance and no one turns up to a gig like this expecting to be shouted at.

Reflections on Joe Lee Wilson at The Basement

[Photo by Emily Harris]

Thursday's gig with Joe Lee was a great success. We knew the pressure was on when the tickets sold out almost a week before leaving many people ticketless and, presumably, disappointed. However, from the moment Ela's band Remember April went on we would tell that the evening was going to be special.

Having played with Joe Lee a few weeks' earlier, he had clearly gained in strength and confidence in the couple of weeks spent in Paris, which included gigs with the New York band Spirit of Life.

Terry Seabrook and I had had a chance to run through a set with Joe Lee but the gig was the first time we had played with the fantastic rhythm section of Steve Watts (bass) and Martin France (drums). Like Terry, Steve has toured often with Joe Lee over years, and Joe Lee was very happy to be surrounded by such familiar faces. For my own part, it was the best band I had ever played with!

With fifty years of gigging behind him, Joe Lee knows how to the attention of an audience and he won them over from the moment he stepped on the stage. Though looking a bit frail, he has a big soulful voice and he chose material that was very accessible including standards (Violets For Your Furs), gospel (May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You) and hard bop classics (Song For My Father).

Following the gig I had lots of feedback from people who may not typically go to a jazz gig - "beautiful", "excellent", "enjoyable", "life affirming", "a great gig". This was testament to the hard work promoting and preparing for the gig by Steve Rayson of Kineo, Ela, Terry Seabrook, Jill Wilson (Joe Lee's wife), the staff of The Basement and, of course, Joe Lee Wilson.

The next Kineojazz gig is Claire Martin on 2nd June supported by the JH Trio plus guests. Tickets (£15) available from The Dome - better get in there early!

Terry Seabrook Trio, St Peter's Church, Brighton

St Peter's is a 12th Century chapel near Preston Park. Now disused, it's kept open by The Churches Conservation Trust and, on Saturday. played host to the Terry Seabrook Trio. It was a treat to hear Terry, perhaps best know for his Cubana Bop band, play such intimate music in such a sympathetic setting.

The band was in the classic piano-trio style of pianists such as Ahmad Jamal, Bill Evans and Chick Corea and the choice of repertoire was drawn straight from that tradition. Bill Evans' Waltz for Debbie, his version of I Should Care and tunes by Ray Bryant and Cedar Walton. The second set was particularly strong with notable highlights being Terry's unaccompanied version of Chick Corea's Armando's Rhumba and Nardis, which featured unaccompanied solo sections from each member of the band.

Terry got better as the evening progressed, the and warmed up (it was quite cold in the church) and the interplay increased. Spike Wells played beautifully throughout. It's difficult playing drums in a church - it can sound as though the kit is being thrown down the stairs. Spike had muted the kit and cymbals with tape, and they sounded great. He did an outstanding free form solo on Nardis which, to my ears, sounded straight from the brink of a revolutionary 1968. Paul Whitten's bass playing was understated and very tasteful, often starting his solos by playing the melody.

There are certainly pros and cons to playing in churches. I once saw Jim Hall playing in a church in Islington. He was supported by Martin Drew's hard bop band, which sounded dreadful - cymbals exploding, the snare drum ricocheting off the walls. Jim came on, the audience went silent and he just started playing with the guitar turned down. You could hear a pin drop. I sometimes feel that jazz audiences have become too reverential in clubs - so many great recordings of people like Bill Evans (at the Village Vanguard) and Duke Ellington (at the Blue Note, Chicago) have audience noise without spoiling the music. If you're going to have intimate, reflective music and a quiet, listening audience, a church is the obvious place for it.

Terry Seabrook Quartet, The Brunswick, Brighton

Terry is a Brighton based pianist, teacher, composer and tireless campaigner for live jazz. This was a rare opportunity to capture Terry's band playing original compositions as they only play together about once a year. The band is Andy Williams (guitar), Dave Trigwell (drums) and Paul Whitten (double bass). The kicked off with Oleo as a lively warm up and then followed up with some original compositions.

Andy Williams' playing was excellent. He has a warm, dark tone, similar to Pat Metheny and his playing is thoughtful, exciting and free from obvious cliches. Although his playing does not have the excesses of some fusion players, you can detect a fusion influence. He has a technique that covers all the bases - in more intense moments there was some wonderful sweep picking, he played some nice chordal variations on the standard What's New and the band closed the first set with a spiky, bebop-inspired blues that showed he can combine his contemporary approach with some hard swinging.

Terry's compositions can best be described as "evocative". Stylistically, they remind me of the Pat Metheny Group in the 80s (e.g. Letter From Home) and there is clearly a strong influence from PMG keyboard player Lyle Mays. One of the pieces evoked starlings over the West Pier. They all had an element of non-functional harmony as a base for some fine modal blowing.

Dave Trigwell has a very relaxed swing and sounds constantly inventive, never content to just repeat a pattern. He worked well with Paul who is a subtle bass player - never loud but always present.

Let's hope this band gets to play together more often.