JOE WEBB
Neath Beat (Edition)
Joe Webb’s light but tight jazz trio, featuring Will Sach on bass and drummer Sam Jesson, keep the high standard set on 2024’s Hamstrings And Hurricanes with this neat little set of mostly original music.
Inspired by the town he grew up in, Neath Beat paints a pretty picture of a place more synonymous with rugby and nightclubs than jazz and jollity. But, with his strong stride piano roots, and a deftness of touch that brings the brilliance out in his writing, Webb conjures a convincing portrait of Neath as a place of musical inspiration.
When he’s not striding between bass and chords, Webb’s left hand is very light even for a jazz pianist – leaving plenty of space for his bandmates to play around in as he covers the melodic and solo material with real ease and originality. There are times you want these exceptional musicians to just go for it and let loose – they come pretty close on James P – but their style of understated excellence and cool reserve is infectious in its own right.
words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES
