A south west based jazz fusion band, playing drum n bass grooves and funky beats. Formed January '07' out of some of the most promising young musicians in the south west, chromazone have set out to liven up the UK jazz scene by bringing good jazz fusion into the popular market.
Playing up tempo drum n bass grooves that will have you partying the night away, and funky beats which will make you nod your head; chromazone are proving to be a very versatile fun loving group that guarantee a good party.
Review
Chromazone
St Ives Jazz Club.
Review by Joe Taylor.
A new "supergroup" made up of some of "the most talented musicians in the West of England" have unleashed themselves on the South West jazz scene.
Chromazone - a five-piece jazz-fusion outfit - played their first gig last week in front of a rapt audience at St Ives Jazz Club.
The band's impressive line up includes two founder members of the Barnaby Ray Quartet - saxophonist Paul Haywood and bassist Ross Williams, both from Truro, who split with the band last year.
They have joined up with pianist Tom Quirke, from St Ives, who teaches jazz at Truro College, and electric guitarist Martin Bowie, from Hayle - another highly respected jazz and funk musician.
Finally there is drummer Damian Rodd, one of Cornwall's most successful session musicians, who has worked with many major names and is now running Big Milk Productions at his studio in Falmouth
The quintet were introduced as "some of the finest young musicians in the West of England" before their opening gig last week - and it was no exaggeration.
Playing in front of an audience of some 100 jazz aficionados, the group performed with the confidence of a band that had been together for years.
Their set consisted of the band's own arrangements of established jazz pieces - including one piece by Cornish jazz maestro Viv Rodd, which they played in honour of his birthday.
But it was the detail of musicianship as much as the dramatic individual solos and raucous crescendos that brought nods of appreciation and spontaneous outbreaks of applause from the knowledgeable audience.
No one doubted that they were in the company of band who had great things ahead of them - even though they have yet to write any of their own material.
By the end of their first set, after just an hour of music, it was clear that this five-piece outfit had already established itself as a tour de force of South West jazz.
