Uli Elbracht – Jamil Sheriff Project

Sunday 6th June 2010 @ Seven Jazz

Jamil Sheriff - piano
Uli Elbracht - guitar
Joel Purnell - sax
Pete Turner - bass
Marek Dorcik - drums

Put simply …. This was a terrific gig! - a mix of standards, the odd rare tune and several compositions by Uli Elbracht and Joel Purnell.

Jamil Sheriff is a highly accomplished musician whether he takes a solo, propels the music forward with dense heavy chords or supports with delicate chords.

 Uli Elbracht’s compositions are especially beautiful in my opinion. His languid style of playing is deceptive, you can almost see the notes fall away from the frets.

 Drum and bass were by turns propulsive, supportive or subtle. Spot on.

I first saw Joel Purnell some 3 years ago, since then he has been on an upward curve and has mastered the art of being able to play from deep within himself whenever I’ve seen him since. Magnificent! – top drawer no doubt.

The germ of the idea for this Project originated 3 years ago and in true jazz tradition it has taken that length of time to take getting round to making this gig at Seven their first.

Even then, the closing tune for the first set was entitled “Sixth on the Sixth” indicating that a set list had still not been established and this tune was put together on the day.

I’ve no doubt they will be modest and self-critical …. yet it would be a travesty if this band were not made aware of just how good the music was today. They have only one more date penned-in to their diaries. Not enough!

The mix in this band is just right – it was one of those special Seven gigs. I hope they decide to pursue the Project further …. Getting invited back to Seven asap would be a starter.

I’m as tight as that part of a duck which of necessity needs to be tight, but if they had a CD out I would buy it!

They have something special going for them and the Seven audience heard them first. Seven rules again.