Ethan Iverson.

Iverson and Speake at Jazz Hastings

Fabled New York pianist Ethan Iverson will be taking centre stage at the Jazz Hastings session on Tuesday 1 May, at the East Hastings Sea Angling Association on the Stade. He will be playing as part of a quartet led by his old friend and colleague, saxophonist Martin Speake, as Julian Norridge explains.

For 17 years Ethan Iverson has been a third of the ground-breaking avant garde trio The Bad Plus, who were described by the New York Times as being “…better than anyone at melding the sensibilities of post-60s jazz and indie rock”.

Over the years, The Bad Plus recorded a river of CDs and toured all over the world. Iverson left the band at the end of 2017 to concentrate on curating a major centennial celebration of Thelonious Monk at Duke University and to record with Martin Speake.

Martin Speake.

The two first met in 1990 when they were both studying in Banff, Canada. Twelve years later they got together to record an album of ballads. Now they’ve joined up once more to record a quartet album of Martin’s compositions. They will be playing music from the album during this session.

Martin Speake has been described by Jazz Times as “…one of the most interesting and rewarding alto saxophonists now playing jazz on a continent”. He studied classical saxophone at Trinity College of Music  but quickly branched out into jazz, establishing himself as a highly respected composer and improviser.

He has released 18 albums for widely diverse projects under his own name. He is also a committed jazz educator and teaches at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and the National Youth Jazz Collective Summer School.

The quartet is completed by Fred Thomas on double bass and James Madden on drums. Thomas is a sought-after multi-instrumentalist and composer who has also been musical director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, while Madden is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music who has played with a wide range of musicians from all genres.

Ethan Iverson and Martin Speake Jazz Hastings, Tuesday 1 May, East Hastings Sea Angling Association (on the Stade behind the lifeboat station). Doors open 7.45pm for an 8.30 start, tickets £10 on the door.

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