Brass Jaw and Jambone @ The Sage.

Brass Jaw:Ryan Quigley (tpt), Paul Towndrow (alt), Konrad Wisniewski (ten) and Allan Beauvoisin (bar).

Jambone: 5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, Colm Rooney (pno), Ivan Scutt (bs), Bradley Johnston (gtr), (drums).

Brass Jaw opened up to an audience comprising, in the main, friends and relations of Jambone! Where was the jazz fraternity who, with a couple of notable exceptions, were missing? This was incredible! Brass Jaw are unique mixing, as they do, free collective improvisation, solos and arranged passages to amazing effect.

At times when the four musicians were wailing away in a fugue-like.manner I couldn't but help thinking that J.S.Bach would have loved the contrapuntal lines they were putting down. This wasn't Bach Goes To Town a la Alec Templeman - this was Bach going down to the Bigg Market on a Saturday night bender!

Quigley is an amazing trumpet player and it was no surprise when "Big Band" Tony told me that Ryan was doing a Maynard Ferguson tribute at Wigan Jazz Festival. Paul Towndrow plays wonderful modern alto, likewise Konrad on tenor but the cigar goes to Beauvoisin for pumping the baritone so effectively.

Brass Jaw are appearing at the Durham Brass Festival on July 16/17 - so you've got another couple of chances to catch them.

Unfortunately you won't have any further opportunities to hear this edition of Jambone - The Sage's brilliant youth jazz orchestra.

A lot of the players are moving on to Uni at such exotic seats of learning as Leeds, Huddersfield and points south.

They went out with a bang!.

I'm not going to quote names as the only ones I know are Bradley Johnston (gtr). Ivan Scutt (bs) and Colm Rooney (pno); but even if I did (and I'm hoping someone will send me the line-up) it would be unfair to single anyone out. When they hit the ground running on It Don't Mean a Thing I relaxed and said that this band could gig anywhere - Ronnie Scott's would be a good place to start!

The two bands had been working together and at the end of each set they merged. This was good and the youth band had no problem carrying the ball. It was a brill night but come on folks surely you weren't all at the Mouth of the Tyne Festival?.

Lance.