Review: Jah Wobble and Bill Sharpe, Islington Assembly Hall

Draw a line from the Modern Jazz Quartet through Weather Report and this is where it might end up itoday. The influences are clear, even a touch of Keith Emerson on one keyboard solo, but the sound is an integrated, original whole, held together by Jah Wobble’s powerful bass. Sean Corby on brass and Marc Layton-Bennett on drums complete an extremely accomplished quartet who played the new album, Kingdom of Fitzrovia, in full. You could see the sheer joy of each of them in playing with the other three, working off each other brilliantly. My only disappointment were the banal lyrics, “You make me happy,” of the only song which didn’t give the vocalist, PJ Higgins, much of a chance. I’ve followed Jah Wobble from PiL, through Invaders of the Heart and collaborations with Eno and others through to this. Undoubtedly the best bass player in the country, I can’t wait to see where he goes next but for now, I’d love to hear more from this quartet.

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