Slowly Rolling Camera – Dave Stapleton, Elliot Bennett, Deri Roberts

I MUST admit I had my trepidations about seeing a gig at World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens. And not just because it is south of the river.

This tower-block dominated part of Nine Elms in Vauxhall – now home to the US Embassy – is, at night at least, a bit too reminiscent of a Blade Runner dystopia for my liking. I think I expected something equally sterile from the venue.

But – and it’s a big, welcome but – World Heart Beat turns out of be an oasis of civilisation and humanity in a soulless world. It is very obviously A Good Thing – a charitable undertaking that is a music academy, offering courses and music lessons, and which operates youth bands, orchestras and choirs, and come with a friendly café out front. More than that, it is also has a wonderfully intimate space to see an ensemble like Slowly Rolling Camera.

SLC, which formed in 2013, have had a rather on-off career because Dave Stapleton (keys) co-created a side hustle called Edition Records, which has gone on to become a major player in UK jazz and improvised music, with the likes of Kurt Elling, Joe Webb, Fergus McCreadie and Dave Holland on its books. But here SLC were, back playing live after a hiatus of two years, drawing on music from the past decade up to and including their fine new album Silver Shadow and clearly enjoying themselves. The core trio of founders Stapleton, Deri Roberts (trombone, electronic soundscapes, production) and Eliot Bennett (drums) were augmented by Josh Arcoleo on tenor, Jon Goode on bass and guitarist Stuart McCallum.

And the music? The usual reference points cited for SRC are Cinematic Orchestra, Portico Quartet and Portishead/Get the Blessing and there are similarities to all those in the sonic palette that SRC deploys. In fact, McCallum, who deserves to be more widely known for his solo work, is an ex-member of Cinematic Orchestra and, although there were echoes of his chording from that stint, here he also played lovely John Abercrombie-like single runs (think Timeless) as well as conjuring up a little of fellow Mancunian Vini Reilly’s glacial beauty.

Songs are mainly through-composed sound collages and often begin with a plangent, expressive piano motif before building to a sophisticated, uplifting groove or settling into an immersive soundtrack-like ambience. The majority of fireworks are supplied by Bennett’s propulsive and sometimes explosive drums, with sax man Arcoleo also upping the energy levels by deftly exploring the corners and angles of the themes, especially during the second set.

One of the nice surprises of the evening was the presence of an acoustic piano on the stage to go alongside the Rhodes and synths which, of course, lent real depth and colour to Stapleton’s intros and solos. Speaking after the gig, James Gero, Group Chief Executive Officer of the organisation said: “One of the key objectives from the very beginning was to get a Steinway D and to make the sound in the room as good as it could possibly be.” And it is very good indeed. As were Slowly Rolling Camera.

Just before the encore, Stapleton announced that they would be back touring next year. It’ll probably be a larger venue next time they visit London.

In the meantime, World Heart Beat has a five-star line for the EFG London Jazz Festival, so there’s no excuse for not sampling its charms for yourself.

On the festival’s opening night, November 15, there’s a show by R&B/nu-jazz and -soul outfit Secret Night Gang, who have been much touted by Gilles Peterson. A celebration of Jamaican/jazz fusion giant Ernest Ranglin takes over the room on the 17th, with Femi Tomowo on guitar duties, and Jason Rebello on keys. The spirit of Mingus and Ellington visits the stage on Monday 18th, when young gun trombonist Cameron Scott brings his 18-piece orchestra along (which is going to be a squeeze, but a blast in all senses).

Then there is a tranche of names familiar from this column – singer-song-writer-guitarist Rosie Frater-Taylor (19th), the impeccable Zoe Rahman (21st) and her gold-standard piano trio, and axeman David Preston is in residence with Volume 2 of his acclaimed (including by us) Purple/Black project on November 23rd .

Also of note is a concert by the estimable Julian Joseph, who is a long-term supporter and patron of World Heart Beat, and who is performing new works for piano, sax and tabla to demonstrate the immersive properties of the house sound system, which was developed with input by, among others, Björk and Brian Eno. That’s on November 22nd. The theatre only seats 120, so get there early to find a sweet spot in the room (I’d go for third row back from the front).

Tickets for all shows on: https://worldheartbeat.org/whats-on/ or

https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk

WHB might be over on the other side of the Thames, but its easily accessible from our neck of woods – straight down the Northern line on a Battersea train to Nine Elms and then a five-minute walk. And just in case you need any further proof of its jazz credentials – Wynton Marsalis, who toured the site recently, is a fan.