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Hill Trio

Oct 13, 2025 By Nick Roseblade Photography by Nick Roseblade Web Exclusive

The Hand in Hand is one of the best pubs in Brighton. Situated in Kemptown it doesn’t get a lot of tourists popping in so is largely populated with locals. The pub has a strong community spirit and brews its own drinks. A small L shaped bar in one corner and opposite three set of booth type seats, but without the booth. By the door there is another row of booth type seats next to an upright piano. All over the walls, and ceiling, is pub ephemera. Faded photos in frames, horse brass, novelty tankards, and posters of events going on. It’s also tiny. Like a tiny living room. In short it feels like stepping into someone’s lounge with thirty other people tightly crammed together. All this is to give you the idea that having a gig in a pub this small was always going to be cozy and snug. This evening the reason for getting off the beaten path was to see my favourite jazz band the Hill Collective. The band has up to nine members, so I was wondering how it was going to pan out. Luckily bandleader Pete Piskov, and saxophonist, had decided to make it a Hill Trio gig instead.

When I arrived, the band hadn’t set up, so I had the pleasure of watching them work out where to set up and then, well, set up. Drummer Joe Edwards had the hardest job, trying to squeeze his stripped-down kit into a tight spot. Double bassist Joe Snelling was a bit more fortunate as he could set up by the bar, but it was a tight fit. Piskov had plenty of room to move about while playing his alto-saxophone and then they were ready. They opened their two- hour set with an interpretation, the Hill Collective don’t play covers, of William Parker’s “Criminals in the White House”. It had a tremendous bounce to it. Edwards’ playing was visceral, but with a touch of humanity to it. Snelling slammed the hell out of his bass in place and caressed it in others and Piskov wailed and bleated where needed but also crooned delicately too. It was one hell of a way to start the show. Up next was “Gunes Topla Benim Icin” a Turkish folk song loosely translated to “Gather the Sun For Me”. This is what the Hill Collective, and trio, do best. They are such connoisseurs of music. I have never heard this song before, and probably never will again. There was a slight Balkan bounce, that word again, but that could have been how they played it, rather to how it originally sounded. After that they played two originals that sounded familiar “One Day I Will See You Again” and “Love is a Mirror” but could have been my mind getting swept up in the moment. What was apparent was that this stripped-down line-up changed the feel to their original songs. They players have more room, figuratively speaking for Edwards trapped in his corner, to play, elongate and improvise their sections creating a new song. Or a new version of the song at least. This made me appreciate what I was hearing more. The next time I see the band, and if they play any of these songs, they’d sound totally different. And not just because of the way the sound reverberates around rooms, but due to the line up and their positioning on stage. After “Love is a Mirror” there was a short break, as they’d been playing about an hour non-stop so far.

During the break I looked around the bar. It had been a long time since I’d been in a pub like this. A locals’ pub. There were a number of people who had turned up for the gig but also a greater number who were just out for a drink, or number of drinks, given the barfly shithousery going on at the bar. Luckily their pontificating drones were drowned out by the music. The second half was shorter but no less memorable and enjoyable. The music was more frenetic and aggressive. Edwards and Snelling created a tight rhythm that allowed Piskov to play above, through and below. Around this point Snelling played a bass solo. It was the only part of the gig where the pub went quiet. Throughout their set people have been talking at the bar. Don’t get me wrong this wasn’t a pristine concert hall where silence is expected. It’s a bit of a boozer and not everyone there was into the music but have a bit of respect for the talent on display and have a pint in, relative, quiet while the band plays. The standout song of the set was “70 Hotdogs”. “I wrote this song after watching a video of Joey Chestnut eating 70 hotdogs in 10 minutes” Piskov announced before they launched into it. The song, as the title suggests, was super playful. This is something that sometimes gives jazz a bad name, but the Hill Collective take what they do very seriously even if they do have fun doing it. Edwards’ drumming was delicate and precise and then raging and wayward. After “70 Hotdogs” the trio started to have some fun. During an improvised song they were trying to make each other laugh by either playing in a ridiculous manner or by improvising stuff that didn’t fit the song, whilst making it fit. At one point during this section, I was convinced that they didn’t even realise they were in the pub as they were just homed in on each other and having a blast playing. And then, after some wonky standards the gig was over.

As I left the pub for home, I was stuck by what talent I’d seen and how it had been free. There are a lot of people bemoaning the demise of bands and band culture and here was an exceptional one playing in a charming pub for free on a Thursday night. Yes, the Hill Trio aren’t your chart bothering hype band, but there are bands playing. Kemptown was still busy as I walked through and popped into the St. James as three pints of 0.5% local beer had gone through me. The pub had a karaoke night. Some drunk lad was ruining “Gangsters Paradise”. As I stood there amazed, I still knew all the words to this hit from my childhood. I realised I’d made the right decision going to the gig rather than a standard pub for a night out. I recommend you look at the local listings next time you want to go out, but don’t fancy the pub. You might find something remarkable right under your nose and slightly off the beaten track…