Ethan Iverson at the 606, photo by John Lyons

Befitting such a jazz polymath with a formidable reputation as both pianist and writer (via his Substack, blog and excellent column for JazzTimes), Ethan Iverson’s latest project takes on musical themes inspired by noir movies and fantasy TV shows.

In a surprisingly poorly-attended show at the always welcoming 606, Iverson began his debut UK solo gig with a brooding ‘Into The Dark’, complete with surprising harmonic moves, while ‘Star Lighting’ quoted a Dudley Simpson music cue from ‘Doctor Who’ and delighted in ambiguous chords and an episodic structure.

His take on Henry Mancini’s ‘The Pink Panther’ was a perfect fit, with a great swinging solo section over some new changes, while Bernard Herrmann’s beguiling ‘Scene D’Amour’ from Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ featured some rollicking, rhapsodic lines in 6/4 time.

Then Iverson stitched two Lauras together with great humour and precision – David Raksin’s ‘Laura’, later with added lyrics by Johnny Mercer, morphed into Angelo Badalamenti’s ‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’ from ‘Twin Peaks’. The former was played intriguingly ‘straight’ with some lovely right-hand trills out of Kenny Barron and Tommy Flanagan, while the latter served as a touching tribute to David Lynch.

Iverson continued to up the jazz quotient with a nice mid-tempo ‘Someone To Watch Over Me’, complete with neat stride section, while ‘Technically Acceptable’ was just pure feelgood swing. Its title was a misnomer though: Iverson has technique to burn but – refreshingly – is generally unafraid of playing slowly, giving each note its full value and forcing one to focus on the piano’s overtones.

He began the gig by stating that he hoped he’d get more chances to play solo in London – let’s hope so. An enjoyable evening of music which deserved a bigger audience.

Thanks to John Lyons for his photo.