Ewan Bleach: Jazz a ‘Rave Scene, but with Live Music’

If any modern, British musician embodies Louisiana circa 1920, it must be Ewan Bleach. Seeing him live, audiences would be forgiven for thinking he was born on the bayou with clarinet in hand. Invariably dressed in a collarless shirt with slacks and suspenders, his mastery of the instrument is such that he can play countless jazz standards—as well as waltzes, polkas and more—with just one hand, accompanying himself on the piano with the other. And in any key you care to name, to boot. It’s a neat trick he whips out at solo gigs, but Ewan need never play alone. In huge demand both at home in the UK and abroad, he could scarcely work any harder: Check out the list of upcoming gigs on his website and you’ll notice that he is playing with some duo, band or orchestra almost every night of the month. He must have been immersed in traditional jazz almost from birth, you might think—but you would be wrong. Rather, the obsessive musician came to the idiom the long way around via classical, folk, and electronic dance music. Born to proficient classical players, Ewan’s interest in music was almost inevitable. He took up the clarinet aged seven and the piano aged 12, but Bach and Brahms weren’t really doing it for him. Shortly thereafter, a friend lent Ewan a saxophone and he began listening to bebop. The attraction was as intense as it was instantaneous. “At that point, I just