The Cloggz

St. Nicholas Church, Brighton 

Saturday 17th March, 2018 

    Mark Edwards’ The Cloggz are a band that grew out of longstanding friendships amongst local musicians, and this close bond is evident with every performance. New drummer Darren Beckett did a great job in negotiating the arrangements and fitting in with the ensemble.    

    Tight arrangements combined with attention to detail and a high level of musicianship result in each tune having its own unique texture and sound colour. Mark Edwards’ compositional abilities continue to grow and his arrangement skills enable him to take material and mould it in a way that it sounds like a Cloggz piece.

    Many of the tunes performed at St. Nicholas Church were ones that Cloggz fans will be familiar with, such as Hushabye Mountain, Baby Elephant, Yma and Brad Mehldau’s Ode. But even if they play a tune exactly the same way as before there is always the expectation that something unpredictable might happen. And it is this expectation combined with their high-level of musicianship, that holds the audience’s attention and makes every Cloggz performance an entertaining spectacle.

Charlie Anderson

Mark Edwards, piano, keyboards and accordion; Imogen Ryall, vocals & percussion; Julian Nicholas, saxophone, clarinet, penny whistle & percussion; Richard Jones, violin; Neil Corrin, accordion, xylophone; James Osler, guitars; Terry Pack, bass; Darren Beckett, drums.

(Mark Edwards’ The Cloggz appear at the Underground Theatre, Eastbourne on Friday 25th May, 2018)

[Photo of The Cloggz by Lisa Wormsley]