(Review by Lance. Photos by Ken Drew.)
The disappointment guitar buffs may have felt at the replacement of Phil Robson by Tom Ford was swept away within 32 bars! Young Ford is a comer and his solos were as good as anything I've heard from most guitarists lately. Watch out for this guy.Brilliant as Ford was - and he was - nothing could detract from Rachael Cohen's alto playing.
A tone that, even unmiked, is absolutely beautiful. Imagine Johnny Hodges in one of his less effusive moments coupled with say Ernie Watt's contemporary approach and you've got the idea. The gal played an Ornette Coleman number that shred Ornette's wild aggression and made the piece her lyrical own.
Monk's Ask Me Now, reworked as Ask Me Later, was a wing ding! No flurry of fingers covering a paucity of ideas with technique but a genuine exposition of my favourite Monk ballad. Ask Me Now? Ask Me Later? Played like this - Ask Me Any Time!
Calum Gourlay is a bassist to enhance any band and he did just that. James Bashford - what a name for a drummer! He ultimately proved more subtle than his name implied. playing cross rhythms that worked in a contrapuntal manner with what the others were doing - almost like a fugue. He also laid down the beat when needed.
This may have been the shortest ever Splinter gig but, on a quantity/quality ratio, it has to be pretty high on the best gigs list.
Lance.
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