World Service Project & Alfie Ryner @ Star & Shadow Cinema. June 14

World Service Project: Dave Morecroft (keyboards), Raphael Clarkson (trombone), Tim Ower (alto & tenor saxophones), Conor Chaplin (electric bass) & Neil Blandford (drums)

Alfie Ryner: Paco Serrano (alto & tenor saxophones, vocals), Guillaume Pique (trombone & vocals), Gerard Gimenez (guitar), Guillaume Gendre (double bass) & Loris Pertoldi (drums)

(Review by Russell).

Dave Morecroft’s World Service Project made a third visit to Newcastle and this Jazz North East promotion was the second Match & Fuse project to be heard at the Star and Shadow Cinema. Morecroft’s ongoing mission is to invite a band from Europe to play a series of double-bill gigs in Britain and secure a reciprocal tour; on this occasion the invitees – Alfie Ryner is/are a quintet of seemingly disparate musicians - travelled from Toulouse, France. Morecroft’s five piece took to the stage first and much of the music performed can be heard on Match and Fuse CDs numbers 3 and 4 and the current release (check-out Wes’ recent review on Bebop Spoken Here). WSP played it loud and rocked it. Raphael Clarkson’s big trombone sound impressed once again and front line partner Tim Ower (saxophones) played with self-assurance, so too bassist Conor Chaplin. Manic Morecroft stoked it up showering burning embers over Neil Blandford’s granite rhythms. Solos were short and few and far between, collective riffs caught the ear and won keen applause from an appreciative crowd.

French quintet Alfie Ryner (Morecroft dubbed them ‘Alfie Ryan Air’) emerged from back stage in suits (more rude boy than zoot ) and resembled a motley crew of musos – and they were, musos, that is - sporting earrings and other piercings that would have had Gene Hackman on his guard down in Marseille. Paco Serrano wore the look of a slightly deranged smiling assassin (think The French Connection or Goodfellas) yet turned out to be a big pussycat. Serrano’s vocals, in French of course, were largely inaudible due to the volume levels of the amplified band. No matter, whatever it was he told us, he meant it. He blew some alto, Guillaume Pique played some plungered trombone and Gerard Gimenez’s Fender featured heavily - effects and all. The material was Gallic and varied (a tango worked well) and the drum and bass team of Loris Pertoldi (drums) and Guillaume Gendre worked tirelessly. Gendre was, ostensibly, the ‘jazz’ player in the line-up, yet, surely, all could turn their hand to straight ahead material. The now familiar Match & Fuse finale united the two bands - British and French musicians on stage together – to play two numbers. The first, led by Morecroft, reworked Sweet Time, a tune written by Matt Jacobsen (drummer with Irish band ReDiViDer and former collaborator with WSP). The Toulouse troupe read their parts with smiles all round. The closing number - an ‘instant composition’ or as Serrano would have it a ‘sound painting’ – took the honours by a mile or should that be a kilometre? The big pussycat leapt down from the stage to the floor of the auditorium to conduct the piece. No baton just innumerable hand signals. This time the Brits had to concentrate. The legendary George Russell had an idiosyncratic style directing his big band, similarly Chris Sharkey’s commands with Jambone are somewhat unique. The committed Serrano (perhaps he should be) worked-up a sweat and boy, he had the double quintet in a sweat. Some how he pulled it off.

Russell