Review from Edinburgh Fringe Festival Shows by Fiona Mactaggart:

Last night’s jazz concert at the recently re-opened Jazz Bar began vigorously, going from strength to strength as the one-hour long programme unfolded. Such was its quality one would have wished for longer.

Opening with a lovely piece composed by guitarist and band leader David Series, and based on Bill Evans’ My Foolish Heart, the attentive crowd stayed fully engaged as the quartet played many of the tracks from Series’ excellent album, Coloured Stones.

Series is also known for his older quartet, Meerkat Parade, in which, as last night, double bass duties were taken by James Lindsay, a figure as well-kent on the Scottish folk as on the jazz scene. The Hidden Waves quartet is completed by pianist Paul Harrison and drummer Dough Hough. A mighty line-up indeed.

Although hailing from Sheffield, Series evidenced a wry patter that was very Scottish. His intelligent, harmonically- evolved compositions however didn’t really sound like anyone else’s, while his playing style was also very much his own. Mixing such grown-up compositions with flashes of lyricism and highly satisfyingly deep grooves, this was a concert of first-rate music.

Thanks to the Fringe festival time restrictions, any solos or improvisations were necessarily brief. Nevertheless, Series showed what a very fine and individualistic guitarist he is, while giving Harrison ample space to demonstrate his magisterial command of the keyboards. Lindsay’s double bass and Hough’s drumming were also, as ever, deeply impressive.

HIDDEN WAVES

“David Series has his own voice, both in playing and composition. He is also an exponent of the dying art of improvisation. A lyrical player and composer.” – Mike Walker (Impossible Gentleman/ Steve Swallow)

Hidden Waves Quartet is a newly formed group led by jazz guitarist David Series.

The music explores a new level of composition and interaction, trying to take things in a different direction to previous recordings by writing with different concepts, intentions and influences and bringing together four extremely creative and interactive musicians. The original concept for the music was that things can happen to us or around us in cycles and waves as opposed to the way maybe prescribed to us by our diaries, time and other factors.

David wrote the music for this group whilst in lockdown in the north of Spain. “The fact that I only had an old nylon string for three months really helped me come up with some music which sounded different to what I had written for groups previously” he remembers. There are Spanish influences in some of the music from David’s time spent studying in Barcelona and the guest artist Urpi Barco from Columbia who sings on one track.

Hidden Waves Quartet is comprised Paul Harrison on keys (SNJO, Tommy Smith, Blue Rose Code, Chris Potter, Ulf Wakenius), James Lindsay on bass (Braebach, 2014 Martyn Bennet Prize, Ross Ainsley, Hamish Napier), Doug Hough on drums (Jim Mullen, Donny McCaslin, Evan Parker, Julian Arguelles), and David Series on guitar.

The music is influenced by a complete mix of things including Flamenco, Debussy, Julian Arguelles and Jim Hall with a focus on improvisation and musical interaction.

The Scotsman ★★★★

“Sounds like a Blue Note Session from an Alternate Universe” AllAboutJazzUSA