The slow pull that Snarky Puppy’s English pianist Bill Laurance exerted on his audience was an absorbing testament to his imagination and craftsmanship. First came tentative applause and encouraging whoops as the full house realised how different this visually evocative – and often classical-sounding – music is compared to Snarky Puppy’s flat-out funk. Then came intrigued attention and swaying bodies as it became clear that Laurance is a young maestro at making pieces that sound like movie scores – he’s a TV and film composer, too – fit with earthier soul, funk and jazz grooves.
A big help was the hip rhythm section of Snarky bassist Michael League and drummer Robert “Sput” Searight, augmented for the tour by a string quartet and French horn from the genre-bending Heritage Orchestra. They opened with the strings cascades and laid-back bass and drums groove of Neverending City (from Laurance’s new album, Flint), and then played a sombre whirl that turned springy, reminiscent of one of Avishai Cohen’s alluringly folksy themes. December in New York featured Laurance in classically graceful piano mood, before an animated folk dance uncorked a spirited, bluesily note-bending improvisation from cellist Ben Trigg. Space-music keyboard effects, Joe Zawinul-like figures and a funky hook over Searight’s taut shuffle led to a Laurance piano break that buzzed with intelligent twists on The Real One. Smoker’s Castle, bouncing on a catchy ska pulse, showed League to be no jazz slouch on the upright bass. The looping minimalist-piano intro, slowly curling theme and rhythmic shifts of Flint’s title track – eventually the trigger for a lissome improvisation from Heritage violinist Kit Massey – further confirmed how deftly Bill Laurance marries improv and extensively composed music. Establishing a solo identity while part of such a big-time band as Snarky Puppy is a tough call, but Laurance has stepped right up to it.
• At Band on the Wall, Manchester (0161-834 1786) on 7 October; at The Grand, Clitheroe (01200 421599) on 8 October. Then touring until 10 October.
