The Olie Brice Quintet captured at London’s Vortex Jazz Club

20% extra jazz with the Olie Brice Quintet!

On Tuesday 9 January, the Olie Brice Quintet gives you 20% more jazz in the form of guest performer, local saxophonist Jason Yarde. Erica Smith caught up with Olie Brice to find out more about his band.

Olie Brice © Alex Bonney

Since he moved to Hastings a year ago, Olie Brice has been a regular member of the Jazz Hastings audience, but next Tuesday will be his first time on stage at the  monthly club. Olie is a jazz and improv double bassist who has been leading and composing for his own quintet for six years. The quintet was named as one of the new bands of 2014 in the El Intruso Critics Poll, and was described as one of the most interesting and satisfying bands on the current UK scene.

Their first album came out in 2014 and was followed last summer by their second, Day After Day. The London Jazz Blog said of it: “There’s nothing formulaic here, just an open, responsive approach that speaks to many different strands of improvising tradition, old and new, and makes them personal.  The band’s line-up has remained the same since the start, despite the fact that they all have busy individual careers running their own bands, releasing their own CDs and playing with a variety of fellow musicians.”

The high-calibre line-up on Tuesday 9 January will be:
Olie Brice: double bass
Alex Bonney: cornet
Mike Fletcher: alto sax
George Crowley: tenor sax
Jeff Williams: drums
Jason Yarde: soprano/baritone sax

The band members live in different countries, so it will be a privilege to hear them playing together. Olie says “It’s unusual to have a quintet with no keyboards or guitar.” He has been playing double bass for over ten years. “My compositions are informed by jazz greats like Mingus as well as noisy punk and free-form music.”

Guest performer Jason Yarde enjoys an international career both as a saxophonist and composer. He has worked with some of the great names in jazz including McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill and Jack DeJonette.

Jazz Hastings is one of Hastings’ many secret assets. It’s amazing to witness internationally acclaimed musicians in a fisherman’s club with bargain bar prices and giant stuffed fish on the walls. One of my favourite gigs from last year was the Paul Booth Trio. It is a brilliant venue to see many of the old masters of jazz, but it’s fantastic to see that more younger bands are being booked.

The club is held upstairs at East Hastings Sea Angling Association on
The Stade, Hastings  TN34 3FJ (between Stade Hall and the lifeboat building).

Tickets £10 on the door. Doors open 7.45pm for an 8.30pm start.

The programme for upcoming gigs is available on the Jazz Hastings website.

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