Judah Daniels on keys - photography by Mike Harris

Wynne Tasker superb on drums - photography by Mike Harris

The Cambridge Jazz Festival has launched in its sexiest venue ever. The Lab on Regent Street a relaxed cocktail seats luxuriously padded with the latest in high-end baroque chintz.

‘Is that us ?’ I hear seasoned jazzers mutter. But jazz is everywhere in the next few weeks, from the vast spaces of Storey’s Field at Eddington ( the apex of sophisticated sound systems of the future) to the intimacy of trad pubs like The Geldhart -where Temor the Jazz Festival’s introductory band will also play on 19thNovember.

Temor is a Cambridge- based jazz band with the kind of refined schmaltz perfect for a glitzy cocktail bar and they set a sophisticated swing vibe going in the plush interior of The Lab. Finlay Waugh truly smooched us with his Chet Baker- style mellow trumpet and even more mellow flugelhorn . I had never appreciated this instrument’s golden resonance before – it suited the kicked-back ambience perfectly. The notes bounced off the upholstered splendour of the bar’s back wall to create a fully relaxed atmosphere. Judah Daniels on keys which had the authentic piano sound of Sam’s cool bar in Casablanca. Melody in Jazz is often too quickly left behind when virtuoso trills take over. Not with the Temor. Gabriel Arpino on bass held the sound solid and supported with a relaxed relentless rhythm – the beating heart of any ensemble .Wynne Tasker managed the drums with flair. Not for him exhausting fireworks, he simply expertly drove a strong sub stack of sound below the upper floor’s charismatic flair. Latin and classical music elements in their mix were my favourites. They ended their session with an outburst of eclectic samba rhythms. A great line up of musicianship.

The Jazz Festival swings on now until the end of the month. Its smooth unfappable Directric,e Roisin Rusell has the cool gift of guidance for what is now regarded as a Fest as fine as the London event – with whom of course it shares gigs and headliners

The luscious Lab pulsates on with Sunday sessions on 21st November and 8th December. As David Gower of Cambridge Modern Jazz regularly declares at CMJ Events

“ Don’t Stop the Bop”

www/cambridgejazzfestival.com