After an afternoon spent blowing carols with the Chilli Road Band on - where else? - Chilli Road I thought I'd spend the evening reflecting on the highlights of the past year with a can of Mulled Old Speckled Hen. It wasn't actually mulled but it sounds more Christmas if I say it was and the thought will help me to thaw out. There was a moment after In The Bleak Mid Winter - how appropriate was that title? - when I almost echoed Oates of the Antarctic and said - I may be a little while!
Getting back to the Jazz Highlights 2010...
The highlights? Well there were so many it's almost impossible to draw up any overall ratings so I'll just mention a few that stayed with me.
Vocally, absolutely nothing topped the gig by DARYL SHERMAN at The Saville Exchange. This was an absolute gem with the following evening's gig at Trinity Centre not far behind.
ZOE GILBY, RUTH LAMBERT, MO SCOTT, LINDSAY HANNEN also made their mark. Zoe, in particular is now being noticed nationally.
The best one day gig of the year on Tyneside and, surely far beyond, was the tribute concert to the late CHRIS YATES at the Corner House. An afternoon of memories and music and the perfect send off for MISTER JAZZ NORTH-EAST.
Festival-wise THE SAGE GATESHEAD, as always, shone because of it's innovation and exciting concepts and the concert in the adjoining St Mary's Church by BRASS JAW was as near to perfection as any four instrumentalists playing without a rhythm section could hope to achieve - and they still swung!
Check out their recent CD too!
SCARBOROUGH was a great festival - a rare ambiance with audience and performer. That ambiance was even greater at LOCKERBIE and WHITLEY BAY - the longest running of them all.
Sadly, Whitley Bay is no more, like the SAVILLE EXCHANGE it too has bit the dust although an alternative is up and running for November next year.
At grass roots level, SPLINTER @ THE BRIDGE presented a season of stimulating music by a variety of bands any one of which (well almost any one of which) could be crowned Band of the Year -EXTREME MEASURES versions 1 and 2 CLAUDE WERNER QUARTET, HCW, ACV, PAUL EDIS SEXTET, LEGOHEAD, SAXOPHONICS, VOICE OF THE NORTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA etc.
The MAINE STREET JAZZMEN with vocals by OLIVE RUDD and scintillating trumpet work from RAY HARLEY stomped around the trad venues as did the VIEUX CARRE JAZZMEN.
The CHERRY TREE RESTAURANT in Jesmond continued to present the best in jazz along with good food.
Out in BLAYDON, the slightly off-centre heartland of mainstream jazz, ROLY VEITCH continued to present the best of local - and beyond - talent often featuring his own warm and inspired playing with a cool relaxed vocal thrown in.
More soon...
Lance.
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