While the music that has formed St James Guernsey’s Global Collection over the last year and a half or so has been varied there’s no denying that the main bulk of the new music it’s featured has been, in one form or another, jazz based, and this continued on Friday 12th April 2024 as London trio Electric Footprints took to stage in the venue’s cafe space, along with local support from Twelve Tribe Mansion.
After a seven year break Twelve Tribe Mansion made something of a return back in 2020 but have only made sporadic appearances since, however, tonight may have made it clear why as founder members Sam McKerrel (guitar) and Tom Bradshaw (bass) were joined new drummer Hari Robins.
After an apology from Sam that this might be louder that some in attendance were used to, the band launched into forty-five minutes of their unique instrumentals that, if not jazz in a strictly traditional sense, certainly share some of the same DNA along with hints of everything from reggae and country to math rock and even a hint of metal.
While the guitar was undeniably the star, and Sam handled it with such impressive confidence and speed it was at points mesmerising and somewhat mind bending, he never made it self indulgent with, particularly him and Tom being so in sync with one another you could feel the connection firing between them as the set went on.
That said, if Sam hadn’t announced that this was Hari’s first public outing with the band, I think anyone would have been hard pressed to have guessed that, particularly by the second half of the set where he appeared to relax into his playing more and all three were flying.
While their tunes may not exactly be the sort that you’ll be whistling the next morning they were, nonetheless, hugely engaging and still hooked me in, as did simply seeing and hearing the skill of their playing in such an up close setting.
After a short break it was time for the visiting trio, Electric Footprints, to take to the stage. Comprised of Harry Pope on drums, Joe Downard on bass and James Beckwith on keys they have been playing together at a regular residence in London for a number of years and took the same approach to this show, playing non-stop for the best part of an hour moving seamlessly through a range of tunes, some their own and some from others.
Across the set I’ll admit I didn’t recognise any of the music but was enthralled by it all as it progressed between tempos and moods effortlessly going from the quietest and most subtle sounds to the loud and bombastic with an exceptional deftness.
Through it all each member had their chance to shine and, while I’d already experienced the quality of Pope and Beckwith’s playing when they appeared alongside Jackson Mathod last year, they more than lived up to their reputation while Downard was their match with a particularly impressive bass solo section later in the set.
There were some points that, for a comparative jazz novice like myself were harder to digest but they balanced these with more accessible moments to lead even me through the whole, and simply watching the way they played and communicated wordlessly on stage was hugely impressive, all before closing with a much called for and deserved encore of a Herbie Hancock number which brought the evening’s live music to a spectacular close.
Tommy Girard 
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