Dennis Rollins Dennis Rollins kicked off the evening performances at The Green Room with his solo show, Griots t’ Garage. His explosive trombone playing was faultless as he explored the diverse sounds of the African Diaspora. Rollins’ ambitious show attempted to offer a historical voyage through the genres of music that have their roots with African cultures. His performance dived into Jazz, Soca, Gospel, Funk and Reggae and many more fields of music. Concurrently, he also charted the social and political landscapes that formed the contexts from which these musical movements emerged, from slavery to the civil rights era and beyond. In a similar way to artists such as Jamaican poet Louise Bennett, Rollins employed the visual to offer narrative depth to the aural performance. The scope of the show is immense and, as he himself admits, this is a history to which one show cannot do justice, but what Dennis Rollins gives is a musically impressive and politically thoughtful show that will astound many audiences to come. Kevin Haynes Grupo Elegua
 | | Kevin Haynes |
Kevin Haynes Grupo Elegua were next in line and the nine performers in this group took to the stage in the Zion Arts Centre with a calmness that would characterise their show. Founded in 1994, Kevin Haynes Grupo Elegua are an ensemble that focus particularly upon Yoruba art forms and bring a distinctly spiritual quality to their sound. Their performance also harnesses a strong Cuban influence with three of the ensemble competently playing the notoriously difficult Bata drums. The fusion of Jazz, Cuban and Yoruba traditions works well for the most part to create an innovative Afro-Cuban sound. Yet the energy of the performance did at times feel a little flat. The spiritual framework that informs the music may explain this controlled, almost meditative expression. However, one only needs to listen to Pharoah Sanders or the gospel traditions to hear that spirituality and music can produce intensely stimulating and invigorating sound. Consequently, whilst the group produced an interesting and accomplished show their performance failed to gain the momentum necessary to make it truly exciting. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable concert with much to relish. Gurdev Singh
 | | Gurdev Singh |
Gurdev Singh took to an intimate space in Contact Theatre, where four performers sat and played a quiet yet gripping set of Indian classical music entitled A Wave of Strings. Singh is a leading international exponent of the Sarod, Dilruba and Tarshehnai, all of which were harnessed in this show. These three string instruments all hail from the north Indian classical tradition and produce unique and haunting sounds. Singh’s playing of these complicated instruments was precise and enchanting as his ragas washed over the reverential audience. The two Tabla players matched Singh with the quality of their expressive playing, and the performance was vibrant and arresting, yet simultaneously peaceful and reflective. Abram Wilson
 | | Abram Wilson |
The absolute highlight came with Abram Wilson and his show Jazz Warrior. There are quite simply not enough adjectives to praise this man and his band! The strikingly handsome sextet bathed in the audience’s adoration at the Zion Arts Centre. Comprising Abram Wilson, Denys Baptiste, Nathaniel Facey, Andrew McCormack, Neil Charles and Shaney Forbes, the group fuse jazz, swing, hip hop, soul and R&B to create a sublime new sound. Trumpet playing Wilson is the star of the show but he allows his extraordinary collective equal space to perform in order to invest the concert an intricate tapestry of sound. Like Roy Hargrove and Soweto Kinch, Wilson is pushing musical boundaries to create the new sound of jazz whilst maintaining links to the traditions out of which he has evolved. Wilson’s singing, rapping and scatting is also impressive as his voice pays homage to such legends as Stevie Wonder. Indeed, his version of Wonder’s Golden Lady was a huge success and, like so many of the pieces, moved effortlessly between musical genres, in this case it was soul to hard bop. Denys Baptiste and Andrew McCormack also deserve special mention. In such an exceptional line up, it is hard to excel but these two performers certainly managed. As I said initially, no adjective can do them justice but ‘awesome’ goes a fraction of the way. | 
