Choices

Alan Glen (pno), Lawrence Blackadder (bs), David Carnegie (dms).

Dave Weisser (tpt/vcl), Mark Williams (gtr), Barry Ashcroft (pno), Jim Crinson (bs), Eric Stutt (dms). + Nicola Weaver (alt), Darren Grainger (ten), James ? (gtr), Jamie McCredie (bs).

Subs (not used) Stu Collingwood, Chris Finch.

----- Down on Teeside, it was either Jeremy McMurray's Quartet in Hartlepool or Noel Dennis' Quartet in Middlesbrough. Up here, on Tyneside, the hipsters were torn between Paul Edis' Sextet at the Tennis Club or Alan Glen's Trio at The Chilli.

I spun a double-headed coin and called tails which meant I went to the Chilli which turned out to be a good call.

The Alan Glen Trio were in overdrive tonight and swinging like there was no tomorrow. In particular, George Shearing's "Conception" ticked all the boxes as did "Green Dolphin" and "All The Things". In a more seductive mood, that rarely played ballad, "For Heaven's Sake" simply oozed sensuousness. It was a good set.

Prior to the trio's performance, the Take It To The Bridge gang, reinforced by Mark Williams, kicked things along - is there a better guitarist around than Mark? You tell me. Darren, on tenor this week, had some lusty choruses as did Barry setting the bench mark for Alan.

For the final jam, Jamie McCredie played double bass, honest! Take it from me, the ace guitarist is no mug on the bull fiddle either. Young James sat in on guitar and Nicola blew alto on "Tenor Madness". There was so much going on tonight such luminaries as Stu Collingwood and Chris Finch didn't make it to the stage. Ian Forbes, for some unfathomable reason, barely made it through the door!

A reasonable sized audience too. Photos.

Oh! I almost forget but a young artist of the Percussionardo Expressionist School (my description) arrived with a portfolio of paintings, drawings, and sketches that he'd created instantly on the backs of rectangular canvases not unlike those adverts one sees on the Metro trains. These were his unique reactions to the music played at bygone sessions and captured graphically as it happened and in time to the music. The visual and the aural interacting - fascinating. Perhaps he will donate one of his works to this site...

Lance.