A big thanks to Stephen Morris for this lovely review of our gig at Holt Village Hall, Wiltshire on Friday 2 February 2024.
Nick Sorensen’s jazz ensemble played to a full house at Holt Village Hall in a set of virtuoso musicianship. A combination of their own compositions and nuanced interpretations of much-loved standards was rewarded by an appreciative audience of aficionados and newcomers to chamber jazz.
Gershwin’s A Foggy Day was beguiling: John Law’s piano and Paul Sandy’s bass creating a gentle tempo for Nick’s sparse, uplifting sax. For this and especially Monk’s ‘Round Midnight, the band resisted elaborate improvisation, adding some elegant, restrained touches but never straying far from the beauty of the original.
The emotion in John’s own composition The Last Dance, played as a duet with Paul, found a rapt audience needing no vocal to appreciate the yearning in the music. Benedictus – a piece for choir from Rod Paton’s Ascension Jazz Mass (look it up) – filled the hall with sound. Irving Berlin’s How Deep is the Ocean was stripped of Sinatra’s sentimentality; Stella by Starlight was lusciously bluesy.
Who expected Hendrix from a jazz three-piece? Even without Jimi’s sensational guitar Little Wing was recognisably Hendrix: sassy and loud, driven by pulse-quickening blasts from Nick’s saxophone that later had me digging around for the original recording. Hey Joe next time?
The night finished with the evocative Journey Home, the title track of Sorensen and Law’s 2010 album recorded at the Wiltshire Music Centre – a local jewel Nick was instrumental in creating and which makes our part of Wiltshire a musical hub.
Three fine musicians and an audience captivated by the music (‘a mesmerising evening’; ‘fabulous’) made for a near perfect gig – proof that our Holt Village Hall is a fine venue and one to be cherished.
Nick Sorensen 