The jazz bandwagon rolls on into 2017, powered by the fantastical fresh steam of La La Land, the smash-hit Hollywood musical starring Ryan Gosling as a romantically misanthropic jazz-obsessed pianist.
Jazz is the most misunderstood, and misrepresented, genre of music, by turn used either as a marketing byword for class and cool, or a code word for tuneless, beard-stroking, self-indulgence.
It is the former attitude that the UAE’s high-end dining industry hopes to channel, often adding a dash of dazzle and finesse with live “jazz” nights.
Those quotation marks are deliberate – in our experience, their approach often amounts to either a lounge-ready soul-pop diva with a couple of token Ella Fitzgerald numbers – or a saxophonist wandering between tables, blowing mechanical, cruise ship-style platitudes over soulless, instrumental pop backing tracks.
Thankfully, the new weekly jazz night at hip Dubai French restaurant Bistrot Bagatelle is a cut above the rest.
Saturday’s launch showcased an up-tempo five-piece resident act, The Jazz Quarter, who performed three generous 40-minute-plus sets, mixing jazz standards with hearty servings of vintage soul and blues.
Up front – bizarrely surrounded by portraits of Spider-Man and The Beatles – is lead singer Claudia Patrice, who arrives midway through the opening instrumental blues in a haze of garish make-up, ostentatious jewellery and bewitching headgear.
It is the Londoner's bawling, bellowing, irrepressible voice that demands the most attention, however, which stretches out on early soul staples such as Etta James's At Last and Nina Simone's Feeling Good.
To her left, alto saxophonist Tima spews shrill, feverish, if often familiar licks, gamely sparring with the singer.
The horn player’s overzealous approach is balanced by the relative restraint of Canadian pianist Dale Nichols, who sits low in the mix, taking only a handful of slight and sparse solos.
At the back, Danish bassist Soren Hansen delivers robust basslines – throwing in some spirited, showy solos – flapping in his chair behind a small, fretless, electric stand-up. Drummer Giuliano Francella would rather cruise than swing, and is happiest driving the chugging mid-tempo blues numbers – of which there are a lot.
While there is a fair selection of jazz standards – All of Me, Caravan, How High the Moon – more than half the evening is set aside for blustery 12-bar workouts. As the night wears on, the tempos creep up, and the down 'n' dirty blues swagger induces diners to stand, clap and shake to the beat of R&B favourites Fever, Route 66 and Let the Good Times Roll. Formal dining, this is not.
Purists might not be best pleased by all this shimmying – we can imagine Gosling's La La Land character, Seb, frowning – but few diners will leave without a swing in their step. After all, who ever danced to bebop?
Just as the restaurant’s decor mixes timeless white-table-cloth class with jarring, Technicolor pop-art influences, Bagatelle has built its well-regarded reputation on adding a sassy twist on contemporary French fare, while never losing sight of the source. This jazz night could be said to sport the same ethos.
• Jazz at Bistrot Bagatellem is on Saturdays from 8.30pm at Fairmont Dubai. For reservations, call 04 354 5035, or email reservation@bistrotbagatelledubai.com
rgarratt@thenational.ae
