Cellist Davis has proved himself one of the London scene’s more compelling performers as his hybrid approach to playing jazz with a hefty dose of classical sensibilities can hold his own against the power of Seb Rochford’s drumming and Larry Bartley’s thunderous bass. The latter skins man is here with Davis’s inspiring Basquiat Strings (that also includes violonists Emma Smith, Vicky Fifield, viola player Jenny May-Logan and Richard Pryce on bass) quintet that melds seamlessly between chamber jazz and chamber music, all players delivering challenging improvised parts and traversing dense scores, with resultant sounds echoing everything from Shorter and Mingus to Macedonian or Hungarian flights of fantasy. The fleet-fingered Robert Mitchell also joins the mix while also performing some sublime solo piano; sounds like a cracking night.
