A Funny Valentine by Mike Maran. Chet Baker lives and dies at Live Theatre, Newcastle

Mike Maran (narrator/playwright), Colin Steele (tpt), Robert Pettigrew (pno). I saw this same show at Darlington Arts Centre last year – I loved it then and, I prophetically stated that it was ideal for a venue such as Live Theatre. It was – and I think that the near full house this Live Theatre/Jazz North East co-promotion attracted would agree with me! It's a tale of tragedy and pathos yet with a touch of humour. There have been many books written about Chet Baker – this takes the meat out of them all and serves it up well done. You don't have to be a jazzer – although it helps – to enjoy it. The truth is that it is there to be savoured and absorbed even if you've never heard or heard of Chet Baker. Narrator Mike Maran has honed his role to perfection. The pace and precision with which the words and the actions entwine with the music is on a par with the way, in real life, the music of Chet and Gerry Mulligan complemented each other or Colin Steele (left) and Robert Pettigrew (right) did tonight. Close your eyes – you're listening to Chet. Open them and it's Colin. The cool, slight edge to his tone, is magical in its clonic likeness. Behind Colin, Robert Pettigrew played some magical fill-ins. Not just comping but counter melodies that added colour to the ofttimes bleak story line. I asked Robert, afterwards at the bar, why he wasn't better known in the jazz world. He confessed that, whilst jazz is his preferred music, most of his work is in theatre land so – there you go! To sum up, if you weren't there tonight, I feel a little sad for you. However, all is not lost – My Funny Valentine is being performed at the Scarborough Jazz Festival on Sunday September 26 at 7:00pm. Lance.