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Snake Davis at Square Chapel

Snake Davis’ set kicks off with three tracks – Day of the Snake, You’re the One and Summer Song – that make the perfect vehicle for Snake’s sassy and sexy sax. Dreaming On’s plaintive intro soon takes up a groovy beat (Bryan Hargreaves on drums) and includes a fantastically funky keyboard solo (Paul Birchall).

In a Whisper sees Snake take up the flute to give an almost Gaelic sound to the quartet – gently wistful, floating yet insistent. The first half of the set ends with Harlem Stroll – conjuring up images the musos walking the streets of downtown New York – and the title track from their excellent new CD Talking Bird with an awesome melodic line that Snake cuts out with great clarity and warmth.

The set resumes with the use of shakuhaci to conjure up the astounding sight of Mount Fuji, appropriately called Fuji-sighting. The intro displays the beatific and rich sound of the Japanese instrument, a natural and soft serenity. After this comes What’s Up, a cheeky funky little number, and Night Train, with Birchall’s keyboards meeting halfway between Hancock and Jarrett.

By now the crowd has really risen to the occasion with a cover of Marley’s No Woman, No Cry allowing for audience participation. In I Wish I Was In Memphis Snake’s sax lifts up to another level, accompanied by more exuberant keyboards and a powerful drum solo. The encore is a piece of unashamed singalong-an-Elvis, with a jazzed up version of Suspicious Minds that left us in no doubt that, as well as being very erudite musicians, the group know how to have a jolly good time!

www.snakedavis.com

www.squarechapel.co.uk

1 February, Square Chapel Centre for the Arts, Halifax

Rich Jevons

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