Emma Rawicz conducts - photography Trevor Lee

The much lauded young saxophonist and prize winning Emma Rawicz took centre stage for the finale of The Cambridge Jazz Festival which stormed to a brilliant finale last night . Used to the intimacy of a small ensemble, Emma was out front and active in this evening of her own creation. As a musician of some years experience, despite such a young age, she confessed to the strangeness of conducting a twenty strong orchestra. Yet in a fully packed auditorium, there literally was not a seat empty in the house - I had to hang out of a corner balcony to get the full view of the stage - both the orchestra and the star performed with panache, confidence and a coruscating liveliness. Every number was full on .

An outstanding trombone solo from James Cozens marked out the first set in A Portrait of Today, amplified in every sense with his trombone line-up , Adam Howell James Liebrecht and James de Sales Young on the Bass Trombone. Who knew there were so many masters of this brilliant instrument around - clearly having a comeback , it it ever went away.

Naturally the saxes, Alto David Whyatt, Luca Gonzalez Janes,and the Tenors, Manav Paul and Safi Tioto-Smith plus Niklas Freund Bari took centre stage. I loved Rangwali their second number. But when Emma Rawicz herself snatched up her saxophone , spun round to the audience and played in such a fabulous blast of musicality the atmosphere took on a different kind of completeness. For the many fans in the auditorium , this was now Jazz Heaven

On the piano, brilliantly blended was Gabriel Margolis but the drums I think everyone agreed at half time, were absolutely outstanding -Lincoln Grasby so skilled I nearly fell out of my Juliet balcony to get a real good look at him. Louis Henry on Bass, Sam Morley on Guitar made up the rhythm section, so interesting to see a guitarist outside the centre pop-style position but hugely potent at the back in rhythm.

Frankly the trumpets were fabulous in this concert. Here was Eduard Monnier actually a professional lead predictably perfect , but Chris Newton, Finlay Waugh and Ella Mason along with Trumpet 4 James de Sales Young who’d moved from Bass Trombone, were all superb- what versatility to create nothing less than a blast of beautiful sound. a curtain of sonorous swing. Fabulous

And that should have been quite enough - but we reckoned without the lovely vocalist Mahaalia Nesbeth-Bain who was magicked into the concert in the second half. So heartwarming to have a singer with such a range and stage presence, well worth waiting for.

Of course all eyes all night were on Emma Rawicz in her red jacket, She relaxed and began to really enjoy her own music as the lovely numbers succeeded each other. Hard job to be a bandleader but she brought some gracious energy to the job. A brilliant combination of her peerless playing , original scores and massive orchestral backup made this a unique night to remember.

Nov 29 EMMA RAWICZ AND UNIVERSITY JAZZ ORCHESTRA - FINALE OF FESTIVAL

Dec 4 DAN LLYWELYN HALL - ARTIST

Nov 25 WINTERING AT FEN DITTON GALLERY

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