The rich history of jazz is rooted in improvisation, with an uncountable number of classics in the genre resulting from extended jam sessions. Enter New Zealand’s Myele Manzanza, who sought to continue this long-upheld tradition with pianist Lyle Barton and bassist Matt Gedrych at Peggy’s Skylight, crafting lengthy compositions on the fly for a spellbound audience— even that wasn’t enough for the trio though, as the group also went out of their way to take inspiration from Manzanza’s background in electronic music and beat-making. The result was a show where all three musicians were a sight to behold, and where the whole counted for even more than the sum of its parts.

The greatest compliment befitting Manzanza’s performance is that his playing acted as a perfect demonstration of how percussion can complete reform and re-contextualise a piece of music. Transitioning smoothly between drumming with sticks, brushes, mallets and his own hands, Manzanza acted as the guiding force for much of the improvisation, steering each composition this way and that without ever feeling stilted or unnatural. The trio would often begin each piece in a more laid-back fashion before slowly building in intensity, and the percussion was integral in bringing that energy and drive: with each subsequent musical climax, the drummer would turn into something of a blur, giving each improvisation a thunderous finish. Contrasting the passion and downright-fury of his playing, Manzanza’s talking points between performances were much more light-hearted and fun, inviting the audience to feel like a part of the show themselves— the entire set took on a highly intimate atmosphere as a result, only adding to the evocative nature of the trio’s playing.

The show wasn’t devoid of fully-fledged compositions, even if any of the improvisations could easily have been mistaken for one: instead, the trio worked several of Manzanza’s original pieces in throughout the show, bookending the set nicely. Bassist Matt Gedrych shone during these moments as his prominent yet well-integrated bass parts bolstered each track, filling out the warm, inviting sound palate. Gedrych was often in his element in the slowest moments, using his playing to reinforce several key melodies— unafraid to step out of the limelight at times, the bass acted as the show’s anchor, allowing Manzanza the freedom to express himself via more abstract percussive textures. It was in the more explosive moments that Gedrych, like the entire trio, really flew, however, as the audience were treated to some awe-inspiring bass solos. The opening cut in particular saw the performer flowing seamlessly across the fretboard, giving many guitarists a run for their money in terms of speed— though Gedrych himself, quite comically, often looked rather terrified while playing, there was no denying the virtuosic confidence of his playing, making him a brilliant addition to the show.

Rounding out the trio was pianist Lyle Barton, who’s work on Nala Sinephro’s extraordinary new project ‘Endlessness’ last year has surely raised his profile— it’s a standing well-deserved, as Barton’s dynamic showing at Peggy’s Skylight had us floating at every moment. Many of the harmonic choices in the keys were highly dissonant and atypical, leaning into the free-form nature that improvisation allows: even still, these passages always managed to blend into each composition, benefitting immensely from phenomenal phrasing and an eye for musical theming. Barton and Gedrych would often bounce off of one another across the show, harmonising each others’ melodies and chord changes, and the piano’s key role in allowing those voicings to soar cannot be understated. That was seemingly not enough for Manzanza and company though, as Barton would sometimes leave the piano behind in favour of washed-out keys patches. As the entire trio adapted to this change, the improvisations took on a more modern, anthemic aspect, sounding more like a rave than a jazz show at times— Manzanza’s history in beat-making was clearly having an influence, guiding the improvisations in directions near unheard of, and the ability of each musician to seamlessly adapt such drastic genre changes into their playing had us spellbound throughout.

There’s something intrinsically impressive in good musicianship, and jazz has often lived or died by the quality of its performances— with this latest showing, Barton, Gedrych and Manzanza kept the genre in good standing, delivering a host of sweeping and multi-faceted improvisations. Individually, each performer displayed an intoxicating mastery of their craft, gliding across scales, chords and time signatures without effort— as a trio, however, technique took a backseat to the intimate mood and focus on interesting, evocative composition. We could not have predicted that live jazz/electronic fusion could be so fruitful: that door is very much open though, and we would encourage anyone to let this phenomenal trio take you through.