Narberth Jazz reviews the set played at the Plas Hotel by Dave Jones’ ‘Trunk of Funk’, which made for an ‘enthralling evening’.

“So what is Funk; you my ask?

“It’s music where the rhythms are strong, clear and hypnotic and the phrasing of the melodic and chordal instruments is bluesy and very vocalised.

“Well, we were treated by all of the above when Dave Jones’s new group played for us at the Plas Hotel on Thursday 20th March. The reverberating intense rhythmic drive of the group presenting us with many of the classic numbers from the masters of the genre.

“The driving rhythm provided by Elliot Bennett (drums) and Jon Goode (Bass) provided the ideal platform for Ben Waghorn (sax), Paul Carr (guitar) and of course Dave Jones on keys, to provide a showcase of the music of ‘Funk’. You may recognise many of the origination artists and their compositions that were presented to us during the evening.

“The set comprised Cissy Strut (The Meters), Red Clay (Freddy Hubbard), Dirty Old Man (Tom Scott), In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington, but inspired by the Steps Ahead version of that tune), Elektric City (Chick Corea)… and then the 2nd set: Blue Miles (Chick Corea), Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Joe Zawinul), Cantaloupe Woman (Grant Green), Little Sunflower (Freddy Hubbard), and finally The Chicken (Jaco Pastorius).

“So ended another enthralling evening of yet another variation of the music we call Jazz.”

This month, Narberth Jazz presents a welcome return of Dick Hamer with vocalist Jenny Jones on Thursday, April 17, as usual at the Plas Hotel, Narberth. Visit www.narberthjazz.wales for more details and tickets.