A further instalment in my education on jazz!

My violinist friend Miles, bridge wizard, quite rightly reminds me to explore the oeuvre of Django Bates (website; wiki; his every move is faithfully heralded in—you guessed it—the Guardian).

Versatile both on keyboards and then as bandleader (like Bach), Django grew up with bands like the long-lived, influential Loose Tubes, and Bill Bruford’s Earthworks, also training grounds for the great sax player Iain Ballamy—here’s Dancing on Frith street:

Live in Frankfurt, 1988 (with Django also accomplished on tenor horn):

And I do gravitate to the more intimate soundscape, like his trio Belovèd, with Petter Eldh on bass and Peter Bruun on drums—here with a fabulous live gig in Oslo (note the gamelanesque piano, “prepared” via synth, e.g. from 14.05—cf. John Cage):

or Over the rainbow, from Django’s 1998 album Quiet nights:

As a committed devotee of Flann O’Brien, I’m intrigued by Django’s Music for The Third Policeman album—the nearest I can get is this Spanish performance from 2002. And there’s loads more to explore in Django’s output—here’s a fine playlist.

In my jazz series, more British-based talent here and here; see also Black rainbows.