CityLife

I Am Three @ Night & Day

RECENTLY formed acoustic duo I Am Three brought the atmosphere of a smoky jazz club combined with alt-country blues to Night and Day, performing a low key gig last night.

Sharing the vocal duties, Andy Hughes on acoustic guitar, and Irving on double bass mixed the frenetic with mellow as they traversed the jazz landscape, taking in stops at folk and hip-hop along the way.

Named after the late Charles Mingus' big band iconic album, the pair's jazz influence is undeniable, from the robust bass lines to the quirky, improvised melodies.

The double bass, a much under-used instrument these days, also adds a refreshing angle to the oft-walked acoustic road and lends a deeper, edgier sound with more rough edges than a bass guitar can provide.

Enveloped

Coupled with the acoustic guitar, the duo create a sound you could easily become enveloped in, which sneaks up on you to fill your head and reverberate around your arteries without you even knowing.

This earthy sound contrasts nicely with Hughes' voice, which provides a real delicacy to their sound, almost a fragility at times that makes their sound accessible even to those who wouldn't count themselves as jazz fans.

This is modern jazz for a mixed-up world of musical genres, and the pair cite a hotch potch of musical influences including Frank Zappa, Dr Dre and '60s girlie groups, which comes out in their music.

Despite their disparate influences, I Am Three stay within the jazz perameters enough to be included at In The City's jazz and blues showcase at M19 Bar in Levenshulme on October 8, their next Manchester gig after a frenetic European tour.

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