Volant was touring and they were playing at Smiths as their penultimate gig before a final outing at the Milton Festival. Volant is fronted by Matthew Ottignon but interestingly it's otherwise a trio of women which still remains less common although there are now plenty of female jazz instrumentalists out there. This was a delightfully precise and careful band and it was playing acoustic and at a very moderate volume. I felt I was in a studio given great precision and restraint and correctness and I put it down to the membership, but I was wrong. The penultimate tune of the second set got louder as they played on and the final was a blower and it sounded just like any similarly competent band of whatever composition. But these were competent all round. Hannah's an old mate and also a bassist so I especially watched her playing. Just so reliable and apt and unpretentious and deeply serving the tune. Serving the tune is a great skill and I loved this. Matt was similarly careful and precise, although as the sax out front, he had a more outspoken role, but still very neat. Lauren on piano played restrainedly, too, but there was a good deal of adventurousness there too, some dissonance, various interpretations or melodic takes in solos. Hayley was mostly quite understated, lightly played, heavy on cymbals and hi-hat and kick, but then she too let go with sticks on skin and drama and drive. So, I feel comfy in my concepts of second-wave feminism, that we can all do much the same thing in similar circumstances and we should have the opportunity. But my-oh-my did I enjoy this calm precision. Just lovely.
Volant performed at Smiths. Volant comprised Matt Ottignon (tenor, alto, minor percussion), Lauren Tsamouras (piano), Hannah James (acoustic bass) and Hayley Chan (drums).
