Steve Nelson Quartet play a rare London gig at Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho

The Steve Nelson Quartet play the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho on September 3, UK Jazz News reported on August 7, in what pianist Barry Green called his first London gig as a bandleader in a long time. The date, now logged on the tour guide, follows a short EU tour for the group.

The band lines up Joris Teepe on bass and Darren Beckett on drums alongside Green, with Nelson himself on vibraphone. Green wrote that Nelson's playing has been part of his own musical education for years, tying him to a lineage of pianists that includes Donald Brown, James Williams, Cyrus Chestnut, Geoff Keezer, Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller.

Green said Nelson's comping still "sidesteps the cliches" and "sounds incredibly modern," placing him as the link between earlier vibists Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton and current players like Stefan Harris, Joe Locke, Jim Hart and Joel Ross. He recalled first seeing Nelson play live with Dave Holland's quintet in the 1990s, when the band felt built around him even though Nelson rarely played modal music in odd meters.

Green also pointed to the vibraphonist's earlier trio album, Full Nelson, recorded with Ray Drummond and Kirk Lightsey, calling it "a masterclass of changes playing, comping and interaction." He recalled being surprised by how modern that playing felt once they worked together, and said his bandmate grew emotional when asked about the late pianist Mulgrew Miller.

Green closed his write-up with a plain appeal to fans: "If you can, come and see a legend. There aren't many left!" The date adds to a busy season for London's jazz scene, including the reopening of an East London jazz venue for its 30th anniversary and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra's return to Battersea Park.