The Firth Hall at the University of Sheffield cut a striking scene at night; a soft light danced on the vaulted wooden ceilings and rich blue curtains, as the audience filed in to their seats amid pooling shadows. It’s a suitably atmospheric venue, then, for the ensemble who took Firth Court by storm on 27 February – a trio of accomplished jazz musicians from across the globe, spearheaded by pianist Elchin Shirinov.
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Shirinov has reached heights of global recognition for his talents in the field of modern jazz, combining traditional Azeri folk tunes with innovations in form, style and orchestration. With Italian bassist Andrea Di Biase and RAM graduate Dave Hamblett on drums rounding out the trio, their evident camaraderie translates on-stage into impressive musical coordination. The performance is quite a feather in the cap for Sheffield Jazz, who have made bringing “best of national and international jazz to the city” a core plank of their mission statement.
Shirinov announced that the evening marked 11 years of the trio playing together, and you could tell from their performance – throughout the evening, they proved to be masters of the spontaneous improvisation on which jazz music thrives.
They opened with a set titled ‘Golden Halo’, beginning on a lilting note, but with a tempo gradually building in intensity. Beneath the musicians’ practiced, orderly compositions, there was a riotous, almost bacchanalian energy which was nothing short of compelling; the audience was clearly fixed to their seats, captured by the magic of the moment.
They transitioned seamlessly into yet more complex sets, and the Azeri folk influence on their work began to show. The double bass proves a more than fitting substitution for the bağlama, and Di Biase draws outs higher notes on his instrument than I would’ve thought physically possible. The gentle, soothing notes of an Azeri lullaby might not seem an intuitive fit for the frenetic tempo of concert jazz, but Shirinov and his trio accomplish the musical transition with deft ability.
The interval passed by in what feels like no time at all, and the second act of the night proves to be something of a memorial to Shirinov’s hometown, with pieces intended to evoke the cultural medley of Baku’s historic city centre. The penultimate set, simply titled ‘Old City’, is particularly interesting; composed in Budapest, it is a paean not just to Baku, but to the historic quarters of great world cities across the world.
Shirinov said: “It reminds me of the Old City in my town, so it’s kind of about that vibe.” Sheffield may be a far younger city than Baku, comparatively, but the peculiar nostalgia of watching fragments of history preserved in a place’s built environment, amid the slapdash bustle of construction work and new developments, is one many of its residents will know all too well.
The packed audience were spellbound by the Shirinov Trio, with twenty-minute queues for signed CDs and other merchandise towards the end of the night.
This concert night was just the beginning of a broader, jam-packed spring programme for Sheffield Jazz; an upcoming tribute evening to Joni Mitchell is already sold out, and jazz giants Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent are set to perform at Crookes Social Club this April.
Is jazz as a mass art phenomenon making a comeback in Sheffield? Only time will tell.
