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It is a drizzly Monday evening in Manchester.
It’s dark, the heavens are open and there’s a bitter chill in the air, as autumn takes a swing, and I’m grateful to get inside.
Welcome to Cheetham Hill’s The Yard. The atrium is cosiness in a nutshell: the room is dripping with warm fairy lights and greenery, a comforting backdrop for a rousing performance from John Pope Quintet.
The opening track ‘Free Spin’ is already in full swing when I arrive. An excellent example of contemporary British Jazz, featuring combinations of smooth Graham Collier-inspired solos, an unsurprising influence given John Pope’s Sunderland roots, with a healthy dose of eruptions into fun, energetic workshop-inspired tangoes. Despite the abstracted nature of Pope’s signature genre-blending style, the band are off to a strong start.
It’s not just the Yard’s fantastic sound system which, in fairness, makes that addictive percussion and rumble of bass audible from the street outside. It’s the Atrium’s acoustics that really delivers. Set in an old school hall, there’s no reliance on subwoofers or amps. Instead, the music is nearly entirely unamplified in the exposed brick walls and vaulted ceiling, making it that much easier to get lost in Pope’s masterfully meditative interpretation of funky, free-spirited Jazz.
For anyone seeking a dose of experimental Jazz, you’re in luck. John Pope and his Quintet are on tour promoting their latest album, ‘Citrinitas’. It’s their first time back in Manchester since a COVID-era MJF gig, and we’re all too happy to see them. With an impressively varied collection of influences, floating from European Avant-garde to bodacious Free Jazz, each track transcends between vaguely nostalgic Americana Blues before a quick descension into a mad Polyphonies, each sliced through with a wind or drum solo.
Each member is promoted to the spotlight at least once in each ten minute track. Whether it’s Faye MacCalman’s wistful clarinet, or Graham Hardy’s energetic trumpeteering, the band’s chemistry is impalpable. Founded in 2016 back in Newcastle, the Quintet have solidly found their feet as one of the best examples of modern British jazz. Pope graciously thanks each member between each song, and even promotes Hardy to a surprise solo in the second act (he kills it, by the way). This type of music demands discombobulation, yet they remain perfectly on cue. There are entire tangents of spirited drum pounding and delightfully unpredictable saxophone blasting – but, each time, everyone comes together to a dreamy harmony at the perfect moment. Pope himself describes it as a “happy racket” – and there’s no better term for it.
The crowd is feeling it too. There’s not a phone screen nor hastily rolled cig in sight. The audience is completely engaged, ambiently tapping their feet and nodding their heads to the beat – one attendee is even capturing the scene live with a set of watercolours and a brush (check him out on Instagram – @akinyemi_oludele). The whole night, we’re caught up on a whimsical adventure that seems to lose itself in a gusto of free-for-alls and unending solos, before suddenly settling into harmonic, cool flow.
After the break, we are treated to a live rendition of Shadow Work, a track from their latest album, ‘Citrinitias’. It’s an ambling homage to Ryuichi Sakamoto and Albert Ayler – which, for the uninitiated, are the Jazz equivalent of chalk and cheese. The track opens with an oxymoronically soft combination of trumpet and double bass, before Hardy’s springy trumpet and Walker’s impeccably rhythmic drumming creeps in. Before long, we’ve descended into a bouncy, chaotic tangle, with each member improvising wildly on their respective instrument.
It’s Pope’s interpretation of Free, Avant-garde, Bebop and Blues that makes the Quintet’s specific style of Jazz so charming. Their style is improv-heavy and unpredictable, with a bouncy spin for even their most contained tunes. As always, though, even the messiest Free Jazz excursions eventually return to a cohesive Blues-y sway before falling into silence, which goes down well with the quiet, deeply appreciative crowd.
Sat next to me is Mike, a Manchester based sound engineer and, naturally, a big Jazz fan. He tells me the John Pope Quintet’s synergy is especially unique because they actively feature unrehearsed, improvised segments in each performance. The evening’s setlist is straight from their published discography, yet each track is nearly unrecognisable compared to the live rendition. There’s a delicious undercurrent of Pope’s masterful pizzicato double bass in each track, no matter how rowdy the music becomes – and it’s that tangible thread of familiarity that makes it so enjoyable.
It’s a real testament to the team’s synergy. Across the two hour set, there’s hardly a glimpse of fatigue nor distraction. Despite spending the better part of a full ten-minute solo pounding his drum kit with perfect tempo, Johnny Hunter’s stamina remains intact, just like the rest of the band.
It’s not an easy thing to accomplish: John Pope defines Atomic Jazz as they sway through erratic avant-garde to sombre Sakimoto tangoes, and hearing it live is the best way to appreciate it. There’s no question about it, it’s an immensely challenging genre to maintain. Collaboration, synchrony and energy are paramount to even a good performance, let alone an excellent one – but John Pope and his masterful Quintet do not disappoint.
