# Zara McFarlane’s Jazz-Funk Jousts Bite Deep Into The Frost At Brighton’s Komedia: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2018/03/08/zara-mcfarlanes-jazz-funk-jousts-bite-deep-into-the-frost-at-brightons-komedia-video/
- Published: 2018-03-08T10:09:30+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**The night outside may be freezing, but there’s already a decent-sized crowd gathered
under the Komedia’s notoriously low ceiling as support act Thabo does his utmost
to warm them up. He gives a lesson in effortless charisma, and despite appearing
with just a pianist in support he easily fills the whole stage with his expansive
personality and measured nu-soul stylings.**

**Zara McFarlane**‘s band play her on in true showbiz style with a piece of energetic
jazz-funk, with plenty of space for her to riff and scat. Pianist and musical director**
Peter Edwards** and sax man of the moment **Binker Golding** toss some trades back
and forth with the assurance of star basketball players. Then bassist **Jihad Darwish**
picks up his acoustic and we’re off into ‘Pride’, played as a sultry afro 12/8 groove,
winding through the long cascading vocal melodies before exploding into a drum/sax
duet of the sort that Binker’s been successfully exploring with Moses Boyd. The 
excellent **Sam Jones** on kit proves that he’s fully up to the job, and the crowd
are onside with whoops and hollers. Then there’s ‘Freedom Chain’, featuring plenty
of long jam-outs from Edwards on funked-up Fender Rhodes, while the rhythm section
deploy a kind of mutant reggae that’s hip and tight enough to avoid jazz-funk cliches.‘
Allies And Enemies’ is delivered with just Darwish on bass guitar and Jones on trigger
pads, showcasing Zara’s supple, clear-toned and accurate vocals. She steers clear
of the kind of gospel-inflected dramatic affectations that are current in some contemporary
jazz-and-related-music circles. The results are refreshingly unhyped, personal and
sincere sounding.

![Zara McF LWorms 1](https://i0.wp.com/jazzwisemagazine.com/images/MARCH2018/Zara_McF_LWorms_1.
jpg?resize=640%2C432)

The band can really play, and a substantial amount of the set is given over to loose,
free-flowing jamming over heavy basslines, with a kind of open West Coast Get Down
vibe, big-toned angular sax solos, lots of bravura work from behind the drumkit,
and a ton of palpable fun and good humour. It’s not all groove material – a version
of ‘Row Fisherman Row’ over bowed bass and muted drums and piano gets heartfelt 
applause from the crowd, and Darwish even gets a superbly creative solo on stand-
up bass, egged on by offstage exhortations from the rest of the band. Zara is a 
warm and friendly onstage presence and when she leads into some co-ordinated song-
and-dance participation the whole room joins in. “Police And Thieves’ is a sure 
crowd pleaser, a new track written by Boyd and Shabaka Hutchings extends into another
potent reggae-flavoured workout, and there’s a triumphant return on ‘Fussing And
Fighting’ to conclude the night.

The set brims over with vibes and joyful, expansive energy. There’s a balance struck
between showcasing her characterful individual voice while still allowing the communal
talents of the band to flourish; Gregory Porter has this down to a fine art, and
it’ll be interesting to see how the show develops when McFarlane and company return
from their upcoming schedule of international touring.

**– Eddie Myer; http://jazzwisemagazine.com**
 **– Photos by Lisa Wormsley **

![Zara McF LWorms 2](https://i0.wp.com/jazzwisemagazine.com/images/MARCH2018/Zara_McF_LWorms_2.
jpg?w=640)

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