Benjamin Creighton Griffiths

The quality of the playing was exceptional throughout and some of the soloing quite breathtaking. The unusual instrumental combination helped to put a new spin on the established gypsy jazz repertoire Transatlantic Hot Club, Brecon Jazz Club, The Muse Arts Centre, Brecon, 17/04/2022 Ben Creighton-Griffiths – harp, Adrien Chevalier – violin, vocals, Ashley John Long – double bass Brecon Jazz Club’s latest event took place on Easter Sunday and the organisers were rewarded with a large and enthusiastic audience for this truly international collaboration featuring local heroes Ben Creighton-Griffiths (harp) and Ashley John Long (double bass), who were teamed with French born, New York based violinist and vocalist Adrien Chevalier. Creighton-Griffiths and Chevalier first met in 2013 when Creighton-Griffiths was performing at ‘Journées de la Harpe’, a harp festival that takes place in the French Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guyane, Guadeloupe, St Anne, and St Lucia. Both musicians come from musical families and Chevalier’s mother was part of the orchestra accompanying the harpists. She introduced Creighton-Griffiths to her son, who was of a similar age to the young harpist. Creighton-Griffiths and Chevalier soon developed a strong musical support and an equally firm friendship. In 2014 they began an annual tradition of performing together in Cardiff and adopted the Transatlantic Hot Club name in 2019 as they began to tour more widely. Creighton-Griffiths and Chevalier represent the core of the ensemble but the ranks of the Transatlantic Hot Club have also included Franck Billot (clarinet), Linus Wyrsch (clarinet) Tatiana Eva-Marie (vocals), Roberto Gervasi (accordion) and Sara Labriola (guitar). A whole string of players have filled the bass chair, namely Don Sweeney, Matheus Prado, Philip Ambuel, Julian Smith, Aeddan Williams and currently Ashley John Long. In 2020 a version of Transatlantic Hot Club featuring its co-leaders alongside Ambuel Wyrsch and Labriola performed a special online show as part of that year’s ‘Virtual’ Brecon Jazz Festival. Creighton-Griffiths was recorded at his home in Cardiff, playing with four musicians recorded at their individual residencies in New York. It all cohered remarkably well and clearly helped to whet the appetite of the Brecon jazz audience for tonight’s live performance. My account of this special livestream event can be found as part of my 2020 Festival coverage here; https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/saturday-at-virtual-brecon-jazz-festival-08-08-2020 The 2021 Brecon Jazz Festival, subtitled “Wherever You Are”, was a ‘hybrid’ event featuring a mix of online and genuine live performances, the majority of the latter taking place in the ballroom of the Castle Hotel. Among the live events was a performance by the Swing Strings Trio, a project assembled specifically for the festival and featuring Creighton-Griffiths and Long alongside violinist Xenia Porteous. This proved to be a resounding success and the trio hope to work together again. My review of that performance forms part of my 2021 Festival coverage and can be found here; https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/wherever-you-are-brecon-jazz-festival-2021-the-castle-hotel-brecon-sunday-22nd-august-2021 Astute readers will have noted that the instrumental configuration of Swing Strings Trio and Transatlantic Hot Club is exactly the same, so it’s not too surprising that Creighton-Griffiths and Long both seem so at home in each of these line ups. The current edition of the Hot Club contains an extra ingredient with Chevalier also adding vocals, but more on this later. Tonight’s performance was part of a short tour that had already seen the trio performing in Edinburgh, Caernarfon, Fishguard and Cardiff with Creighton-Griffiths and Chevalier also scheduled to play a duo date in Norwich. The tour had been twice postponed, first in 2020 and then in 2021 and the trio were clearly delighted to be playing in front of live audiences again. Tonight’s performance was generously supported by the Arts Council of Wales’ Noson Allan or Night Out touring scheme. As the group’s name suggests its primary influence is the Quintette du Hot Club de France and its most famous members, guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli. Tonight’s material was largely sourced from the classic ‘gypsy jazz’ repertoire immortalised by Reinhardt. First up was “Dark Eyes”, a traditional gypsy tune originally arranged by Reinhardt but with the trio giving it their own twist via an atmospheric opening passage featuring the sound of unaccompanied harp and later the eerie bowing of violin and arco bass. Eventually the piece mutated into a more conventional Hot Club style with Chevalier’s violin taking the lead and delivering the first solo. He was followed by Creighton-Griffiths and then by Long, all three quickly establishing themselves as genuine virtuosos of their respective instruments. These solos were genuinely dazzling and there was still a series of sparkling violin and harp exchanges to come. Another staple of the gypsy jazz / Reinhardt repertoire followed, “J’Attendrai”, which saw the introduction of Chevalier as a vocalist, delivering the lyric in his native French. Creighton-Griffiths then provided the first instrumental solo as Chevalier’s pizzicato violin provided an additional rhythmic component alongside Long’s double bass. Chevalier was later to shine with the bow and Long was to deliver another jaw-droppingly dexterous double bass solo before Chevalier reprised the lyrics. As Creighton-Griffiths explained the trio’s version of “Claire de Lune” was not the classical composition by Claude Debussy but the French ballad by Joseph Kosma, also the composer of the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”. Introduced by a violin and harp duet this piece also featured Creighton-Griffiths and Long exchanging solos and taking it in turns to accompany each other as Chevalier looked on. The jazz standard “Exactly Like You” picked the pace up once more with a genuinely swinging performance featuring virtuoso solos from all three musicians, with Long’s playing centred around the bridge of his double bass. He then reverted to a more supportive anchoring role as Creighton-Griffiths and Chevalier enjoyed a series of dazzling harp / violin exchanges. Chevalier’s vocals were re-introduced for “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”, with the lyrics this time delivered in English and with instrumental features for harp and double bass. Solo harp introduced another gypsy jazz staple, guitarist Dorado Schmitt’s “Bossa Dorado”. Delivered by the trio at a suitably fast clip this featured the dizzying bowing of Chevalier and the lightning fast finger work of Creighton-Griffiths and Long. Written in 1932 by Joe Myrow and performed by Django Reinhardt “Blue Drag” was a genuine blues and saw Chevalier wrestling some appropriately bluesy sounds out of his violin as he and Creighton-Griffiths shared the solos above the earthy undertow of Long’s bass. The bassist was then rewarded with his own feature towards the close. An excellent first set concluded with the jazz waltz “Indifference”, pronounced by Creighton-Griffiths in an authentically French fashion. This was very much a showcase for the brilliant bowing of Chevalier as the trio gradually accelerated the tempo of the tune. During the interval the band enjoyed a curry from the nearby Nepalese restaurant, which served to fuel them for a similarly exceptional second half. This commenced with another Hot Club standard, a ferociously swinging “Minor Swing” that featured some dazzling unison passages, fiery individual instrumental solos from Chevalier, Creighton-Griffiths and Long, and a further series of fiery violin and harp exchanges. “Confessing” was the first vocal item of the second set, with Chevalier again singing in English before taking the first full instrumental solo. The piece had been introduced by a short passage of unaccompanied harp from Creighton-Griffiths, who was to follow Chevalier here. Finally we heard from Long at the bass. Solo harp also introduced the trio’s version of Luis Bonfa’s “Black Orpheus” as the music took a Brazilian turn. Chevalier played with great flamboyance as he shared the solos with Creighton-Griffiths and Long. The performance then ended in atmospheric fashion with the bowed sounds of both violin and double bass on the outro. Long sat out as Creighton-Griffiths and Chevalier performed a lyrical ballad as a duo, alternating the roles of soloist and accompanist. I suspect that the title may have been unannounced, I’ve just found that I haven’t got a note of it, so apologies for that. Long returned as the trio turned up the heat for a blistering version of “Joseph Joseph” with the bassist’s propulsive lines fuelling the virtuoso solos of both Creighton-Griffiths and Chevalier, with the violinist bowing in particularly bravado fashion. An authentically swinging version of “Coquette” maintained the momentum with all three musicians featuring as soloists. “Swing Gitane” was even faster, with all three protagonists again featuring and with Chevalier arguably delivering his most dazzling solo of the evening. He was to feature as a vocalist on the concluding “Almost Like Being In Love”, delivering the verses in English before sharing the instrumental solos with Creighton-Griffiths and Long. A hugely supportive and wildly enthusiastic audience gave the trio a terrific reception and the performance of a deserved encore was never in doubt. This was to be “Shine”, another Reinhardt associated number which was ushered in by a passage of unaccompanied harp and which later featured more conventional jazz solos from Chevalier, Creighton-Griffiths and Long. Like everybody else present at the The Muse I was hugely impressed by Transatlantic Hot Club. The quality of the playing was exceptional throughout and some of the soloing quite breathtaking. The unusual instrumental combination helps to put a new spin on the established gypsy jazz repertoire. This was the fifth night of the tour and the members of the trio were right on top of their game, both individually and collectively. In addition to the quality of the playing Creighton-Griffiths handled the announcements with a growing confidence and maturity. I’ll admit to not being quite so keen on the singing, but this is very much a matter of personal preference. There’s no doubt that it added a degree of variety to the performance and also served as a timely reminder that many of the gypsy jazz tunes that we now think of as instrumentals began life as songs, much as many of the American jazz standards did. It is hoped that Transatlantic Hot Club will be able to record an album at some point. It will be keenly anticipated by anyone lucky enough to have seen the group on this current tour. My thanks to Ben, Ashley and Adrien for speaking with me, and also to Ben’s mother and aunt, who I enjoyed talking with during the interval. I’m also grateful to Lynne Gornall of Brecon Jazz Club for giving The Jazzmann a name check as she wrapped up the evening’s proceedings. It’s heart warming for me to know that my work is appreciated by the wider jazz community. A memorable evening all round and a reminder of just how much we’ve all missed live music.

CHUBE featuring DENNIS ROLLINS Wall2Wall 2019 was very much about returning heroes (and heroines) and this unique collaboration between harpist Ben Creighton-Griffiths and his trio Chube with the great trombonist Dennis Rollins was one of the most keenly anticipated events of the entire Festival. Cardiff based Creighton-Griffiths has established the Welsh harp as a valid jazz instrument, both through his solo performances and with his exciting Chube trio featuring Aeddan Williams on acoustic and electric bass and the unrelated Matthew Williams on drums. Creighton-Griffiths first appeared at Wall2Wall in 2016 when he played a solo set in the bar that was very well received. Among the onlookers were the musicians Christian Garrick, David Gordon and Dennis Rollins, who were all hugely impressed, with Rollins declaring “I want to work with this guy!”. Having made an impression with his performance in the bar Creighton-Griffiths returned later in the year to the more formal setting of the Melville Theatre as he played a second solo set as part of a double bill with Duski, the band led by Cardiff based bassist and composer Aidan Thorne. A further solo show in the bar at Wall2Wall 2018 saw Creighton-Griffiths making reference to his ‘electro-fusion’ trio Chube, a prospect that intrigued everybody. Sure enough Chube were soon invited to play a BMJ club night and absolutely wowed the audience with their performance in the Theatre in March 2019. The trio’s self titled EP, which features much of the music played both in March and today, represents vital and highly enjoyable listening. Dennis Rollins has also been a regular and popular visitor to BMJ having brought his Velocity Trio to both the Club and Festival in recent years. Velocity’s unique line up of trombone, Hammond organ and drums/percussion suggests that Rollins likes playing in unusual instrumental configurations, so this alliance with Chube seemed like a very natural move for him. With Creighton-Griffiths doubling on keyboards there was a direct link between the music of the two bands and today’s performance comprised of material sourced from the repertoires of both Chube and Velocity Trio. If Chube’s tunes predominated this was partly because they had more members numerically, but also because the accommodating Rollins, an acclaimed jazz educator, was happy for his youthful collaborators to be given their head. Things kicked off with “Shift”, the opening tune from the Chube EP and one which emphasised the ‘electro-fusion’ element of the trio’s sound. With Creighton-Griffiths playing both synthesiser and electric piano in addition to harp this was music that embraced jazz, rock and electronics. Rock and funk rhythms drove the piece, with Creighton-Griffiths soloing on synth. “Black Orpheus”, written by the Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfa, has been part of Ceighton-Griffiths’ solo repertoire. Here the harp was more in evidence as Creighton-Griffiths soloed on the instrument. Aeddan Williams featured on melodic electric bass and Rollins found more space within the music as he delivered his first full length trombone solo. From the Chube EP “Chrysalism” was the first tune that the trio wrote collaboratively. Tonight it was introduced by a dialogue between harp and double bass before Aeddan switched to electric to help provide the grooves that fuelled Rollins’ trombone solo. With the members of the quartet based in different parts of the country (Cardiff, London, Doncaster) finding time to rehearse had been difficult. However with Rollins having been ensconced in Abergavenny since Thursday time was found for some intense wood-shedding on the days prior to the concert. The members of Chube opted to tackle two items from Rollins’ Velocity Trio programme commencing with “The Rose”, a song written by Amanda McBroom and made famous by Bette Midler. This was introduced by a duo of harp and trombone with subsequent solos coming from Creighton-Griffiths on harp, Aeddan Williams on melodic double bass and finally Rollins on trombone, his warm tone bringing out the full beauty of McBroom’s melody. Next came the trombonist’s “Symbiosis”, the title chosen to express the deep musical understanding between the members of the Velocity Trio, a quality also shared by the members of Chube and their illustrious guest. Here Creighton-Griffiths’ keyboards simulated the sound of the Hammond as he soloed. Meanwhile Matt Williams enjoyed an extended drum feature. Following the performance Rollins praised his young band mates, complementing them on expertly negotiating the complex changes of meter that characterised the piece. It was back to the Chube repertoire for “Interlude”, another tune from their eponymous EP. Here bass and drums were very much to the fore as Creighton-Griffiths coaxed a range of colours and textures from his keyboards. Creighton-Griffiths revealed that the new tune “Ligma” had been played on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Now programme as part of the regular ‘BBC Introducing’ feature. It’s good to hear of the guys getting some much deserved national recognition. Perhaps because of its newness this piece was played by the core Chube trio as Rollins sat out. Bright and melodic, but with tight grooves, the performance featured Creighton-Griffiths doubling on harp and keys while Aeddan soloed on electric bass. Rollins rejoined the group for their take on the Outkast hit “Hey Ya”, which saw Creighton Griffiths carrying the melody on harp as Aeddan moved to double bass. Rollins’ warm toned trombone solo was complemented by Creighton-Griffith’s harp counter melodies in this unique interpretation of the song. “Salty Tongue”, another new Chube original added a hint of hip hop courtesy of Matt Williams’ broken beats, but it was the quartet’s version of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks” that really brought the house down. This had been a big crowd pleaser when the trio played it back in March. With Rollins on board as well it was irresistible as Matt Williams again nailed that John Bonham drum groove and Creighton-Griffiths deployed pedals to conjure fuzzed up, heavily distorted sounds from the harp. Aeddan then took over the melody on monstrous electric bass before Rollins’ authentically bluesy trombone soloing finally took the tune into another dimension. Appropriately the piece was played in front of the Chicago banner from BMJ’s ‘Jazz Through The Ages” exhibition. Next came the Chube composed companion piece “When The Reggae Breaks” with its quasi-Caribbean grooves generated by keys, drums and electric bass and with Rollins adding Rico style trombone. To close we heard Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” played in Headhunters style, with Aeddan on electric bass and with solos from Rollins on trombone and Creighton-Griffiths doubling on both keyboards, with Rollins also tapping out rhythms on cowbell. A near capacity audience gave this unique collaboration a terrific reception and an encore was inevitable. Here Rollins pulled rank and took charge, co-ordinating an audience clap along on his infectiously funky tune “Boneyard” as the concert ended in a party atmosphere. Solos here came from Aeddan on double bass, Creighton-Griffiths on synth, Rollins on trombone and Matt Williams with a suitably rousing drum feature. This gig was another triumph and a total vindication of the decision of Chube and Dennis Rollins to work together. Musical skill combined with a genuine sense of give and take, and the quality of the playing and writing was complemented by the charismatic presence of the ebullient Rollins. Criticisms were few, I would have liked to have heard a little more harp, Creighton-Griffiths seems to specialise increasingly on keyboards these days, but this is perhaps inevitable given the primarily electric nature of the Chube trio. Nevertheless it’s the presence of the harp that makes this trio so unique, something they’d do well to bear in mind. That said I predict that Chube’s star will continue to rise. They have the potential to appeal to a broad audience, including adventurous rock listeners. Jazz, rock and electronics were all promised, and all were brilliantly delivered by this unique quartet, an alliance that may yet prove to be more than just a one off.