Babelfish, Red Lion, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham - review
The group Babelfish is a band of many languages – with songs sung in English, Italian, French and Portuguese.
They have been making great waves on the jazz scene, and on Friday they performed in a captivating concert promoted the organisation Birmingham Jazz.
Singer Brigitte Beraha and pianist Barry Green lead the group, which is completed by the brilliant and very experienced bassist Chris Laurence, and the imaginative percussionist Paul Clarvis.
Their albums, including 2015's Chasing Rainbows, have been highly acclaimed, and their music has very broad appeal beyond the usual jazz frontiers.
At the Red Lion, all the numbers provided a high level of enjoyment – but a ballad by Barry based on an e.e. cummings poem, It May Not Always be So, was simply spellbinding. The group's use of space – with solid, punchy low notes from Laurence – was the key to the success of the structure, but Beraha's plaintive voice was magnificent on this piece.
Another highlight was a blend of two original tunes, Nuit Blanche and Fatchi-Chuna, with a punchy intro in the style of the great American pianist Thelonious Monk and then a swinging section in which Green's solo piano improvising really flew.
By John Watson
