Given how impressive the Luca Manning Quintet were at The Jazz Bar in December, I had high hopes for both he and Irini Arabatzi’s hour-long set at the Piccolo tent on the penultimate evening of the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. And, boy, I am glad to confirm I was not disappointed.

Which is no surprise given that last year he was invited to perform at Liane Carroll’s Boxing Day bash at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s. And in June not only made the shortlist for Best Vocalist but was crowned the Rising Star at the Scottish Jazz Awards. Not so much one to watch, more to watch.

Having recently completed his first year at the Guildhall School of Music, Manning is one of only three UK students to be accepted onto the prestigious Summer Jazz Colony at the Brubeck Institute from which he hopes to expand his knowledge of the art form and, to quote from his crowdfunding page www.gofundme.com/luca-manning-brubeck-institute, “learn new things and take new opportunities”.

To date, he has raised almost a third of his £2220 target to cover course fees and return flights to San Francisco, but still requires a further £1400 by early August. So if you would like to support one of the rising-cum-shooting stars of Scottish jazz you can do so by making a small donation. As a certain supermarket says: Every Little Helps.

Plaudits and plugs aside, what about the gig? And what about his fellow musicians Sam Every on bass guitar, Seth Tackaberry on drums and the Greek-born but London-based vocalist Irini Arabatzi, the latter of whom features on the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s latest album Sweet Sister Suite by trumpeter Kenny Wheeler?

To quote from the opening lines of their closing number by Punch Brothers: “My oh my, what a wonderful day we’re having”. And what a wonderful day the classy and sassy quartet had in performing their “exciting project in the making” for the very first time. A project which is a fusion of as many genres as instruments played by the uber-talented Tackaberry (including triangle!) and languages spoken by the arresting Arabstzi which according to the tongue in cheek Manning extend to “ones not even existing yet”.

To describe their “divergent range of music” it is best to think of a slapdash recipe by my favourite television chef, the wine-swigging Keith Floyd. A splash of samba in a series of up, up and away tempo scats by Brazilian composers Hermeto Pascoal and Joyce Moreno which showcased Arabstzi’s voice to a tee: playful and pure, ethereal and elastic. Or as Manning dryly remarked: “Who knew a mouth could go that fast.”

A sprinkling of soul in the form of Manning’s upbeat but downplayed rendition of Stevie Wonder’s hit song “Overjoyed”. The juice of jazz in Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year Joe Williamson’s exquisite arrangement of the standard “Bye Bye Blackbird” – which for me was the highlight of the evening. And to conclude the culinary analogy, a “cup o’ kindness yet” in their mellow reworking of “Come Together” by The Beatles.

But to think of their fusion of styles and rhythms as a random mish-mash of favourites and influences would give a false impression of their gig for if you closed your eyes the sound was of studio album precision. A lot of credit for which must go to Sam Every on bass guitar and Seth Tackaberry on drums who shifted seamlessly and impressively from one genre to the next. Whether it be the hypnotic lull of the opening number “It’s Been So Long” by Avishai Cohen or the scat-tastic gymnastics of lightning-fast Latin.

If tonight’s performance was indeed the first public airing of their “exciting project in the making” then it bodes well. Sure, the chit-chat between numbers will improve through time, as will their ability to build rapport by dropping their guard and revealing the same wit and heart as they do in song. But given their young age and immense talent, what’s not up for question is their future which is as far from the title of their cover of the Gerald Clayton track “Dusk Baby”.

Peter Callaghan
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