Frank Brooker & the Jeremy McMurray Quartet. Blaydon Jazz Club.

Frank Brooker (ten/clt), Jeremy McMurray (pno), Roly Veitch (gtr), Neil Harland (bs), David Carnegie (dms).

The new season at the new venue got off to a booting start with Frank Brooker fronting the house rhythm section which tonight included Neil Harland and David Carnegie alongside Roly and Jeremy - they gelled.

Frank Brooker may not be the first name that springs to mind when it comes to tenor sax (or clarinet) players but he must surely rank amongst the most stylistically versatile.

Basically a swing player Frank, nevertheless, successfully flirts with bebop and beyond; tonight playing material from Hank Mobley ("Of Thee I Dig" and "Soul Station"), Zoot Sims ("Red Door"), Parker ("Anthropology") and Rollins ("Calypso Blues") as well as Benny Goodman ("Stomping at the Savoy").

"Body and Soul" had a Samba rhythm that was different whilst "Nightingale Sang", played with the sensitivity it demands, captured my mood to perfection.

Throughout the evening, Jeremy, Roly, Neil and David provided the perfect cushion for the guest as well as standing tall in their own right.

The long drive home meant I left before the end although, when I heard the strains of "Black Butterfly", filtering through, I lingered, longer, in the foyer; savouring the liquidity of the clarinet - it was a gem.

A good start for the new venue.

Lance.