Jazz quintet led by double bassist Sam Quintana plays original compositions at Seven Arts as part of the JazzLeeds festival.
Sam Quintana's Wandering Monster play Seven Arts on Sunday 1 November, as part of the JazzLeeds festival. It's a Sunday afternoon slot, running from 13:30 to 16:00, so it's more of a matinee than a late one.
Wandering Monster is a tenor saxophone and guitar quintet led by double bassist Sam Quintana, whose original compositions pull from American and European jazz, rock and world music. The band describes the result as a sound that's intense and raucous yet sensitive and intellectual, built on off-kilter grooves, infectious melodies and spontaneous improvisation. It's the kind of set where the written parts leave plenty of room for the players to stretch out and react to each other in the moment.
Quintana leads from the double bass, and the rest of the quintet fills out the sound with Ben Powling on tenor sax, Calvin Travers on guitar, Richard Harrold on piano and keys, and Tom Higham on drums. Having emerged onto the national jazz scene, the band is part of the wave of young artists operating in the UK today and has become an integral part of the thriving Leeds scene. Following the release of their album Zenna, they took the music on a 14-date UK tour, so they've had plenty of time to road-test these tunes.
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Critics have pointed to Quintana's mature, evocative writing and his double bass solo, which they say combines deep sonority with great dexterity. The performance is part of the JazzLeeds festival, so it's one of several jazz dates across the city around that time. Tickets are £10 to £12 plus fees in advance, and £12 on the door, with the music running from 13:30 to 16:00.
