(Review by Ann Alex)
You could
actually have yourself a free festival by watching the concourse performances,
and you’d get lots of variety, interest and good music. On Saturday I heard:
The Grace Ellen Band
This singer is
new to me and she did some of the songs which featured in her recent
performance at one of the Jazz co-op gigs which take place at the Star pub in Newcastle on
Wednesdays. We heard versions of rock
songs such as Sweet Dreams and New Day and standards such as Black Coffee, Fever and Georgia .
The instrumentalists are brimming with talent, I believe some of them
are from one of the Sage’s music degrees, so I would have liked to hear more
solos from them, to complement the singing.
Dropping Bombs
This is the band
from the Jazz, Popular and Commercial Music Degree, who gave a very good
account of themselves. The talent of
these young people is quite frightening, which means that the future of jazz is
in very capable hands. They were
straight in with a blues, no messing, repeated riffs and short solos, then came
a woman singer with Lance’s (un)favourite song Summertime, a gutsy voice, and a skilled trombone solo from David
Grey. Well You Needn’t was exceptional, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere,
James Harrison on keys took us for a journey on the A Train, then came another song, and the finale with Caravan.
The sax man swopped alto for flute, a staccato breathy sound well suited
to a train of camels, certainly not caravan holidays at Haggerston Castle . Some good long solos were included to finish
a very satisfying set.
The GIJF Scratch Choir
It must be the
drink, I’m not certain if these people were on Saturday or Sunday, but anyway
here they are. I guess it was about 40
people, who treated us to 2 songs. The first
was, I think, the title track from Guys
and Dolls and contains the line “you
can bet that he’s doing it for some doll”. The next song, Let It Snow, was almost topical as, outside it certainly was cold
enough for it. However, on the concourse, the heat was quite delightful and
both songs were performed well with rich lively harmonies and a lovely solo
from one of the men. The style of
singing was interesting, closer to the way these songs would have been sung in
the original musicals rather than an individual jazz singer’s style. I could
have listened to them for far longer, so I wish they’d done more, but what we
had was good.
Djangologie
I’ve long wanted
to hear this quartet but never been around at the right time, and this is what
festivals are for, lots of bands you want to see, all in one place. Emma
Fisk was an absolute whizz on violin, waiting her turn during some of the
long introductions, then straight in when James
Birkett (guitar) wagged his head towards her, with her lovely high gypsy
inspired music, almost like a descant to the others. This is wonderful, easy, accessible
listening, with Giles Strong on guitar as
well, and Mick Shoulder on bass to
keep them steady. Tunes played included Minor Swing, Belleville, an original The
Autumn Leaf, with pizzicato violin, presumably that was the leaf falling, Sam’s Bounce, another original, a very
fast Sheik Of Araby, and the Russian
song Dark Eyes a.k.a Ochi Chornya, which
sounded like a folk dance and had thrilling runs and phrases by violinist Emma. Bravo
Les Tout Ensemble!
Ann Alex
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