Claude Werner (tenor saxophone), Lloyd Wright (guitar), Laurence Blackadder (double bass) & David Carnegie (drums). (Photo by Adrian Tilbrook.)
Splinter @ The Bridge hosted a return visit by Claude Werner on yet another freezing cold night in Newcastle.
The top tenor man was on form and in good humour from the off. The tunes were written by Werner and his band was up to the mark.
Recent recruit Lloyd Wright was given space to develop several outstanding solos, although on at least one occasion the use of his pedal board didn't quite produce sounds compatible to the collective sound.
Bassist Laurence Blackadder and drummer David Carnegie played brilliantly all night on one good tune after another. Three Stories, The Silenced, Kids and Things I Can't Explain were highlights of the first set. Werner's approach is full of swagger with a dash of Rollins and an undercurrent of Trane flowing throughout.
After a short interval (it was too cold to hang around) the second set offered yet more good stuff. Chocolate Fudge Cake, Drawings Across the Street (something to do with an affair of the heart), Nostalgia and Good 'Ol Days were played with great sensitivity and at times, burning passion. A deserved encore came in the form of A Chant.
Werner announced that this gig was to be David Carnegie's last with the band. David has many other musical commitments and his friend Claude said, jokingly, something like ''more lucrative!" DC will be a hard act to follow.
Russell.
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