Paul
Bacon (drums), Liz Bacon (clarinet), Martyn Sharp (trumpet & vocals), Jeff
Milner (trombone & vocals), Roger Howlett (banjo) & Annie Hawkins
(double bass) + Matty McElvogue (trumpet)
(Review by Russell).
Paul Bacon first played jazz at
the Bell and
Bucket (a community pub converted from a decommissioned fire station) in 1991
and has continued to play there regularly down the intervening years. His well
established Bell & Bucket New Orleans Jazz Band’s Tuesday lunchtime session
recently rebranded itself as Paul’s New Orleans Music Show and now we have
Tyneside’s first dedicated New Orleans jazz festival.
A two day affair, Monday’s
session took the form of three sets of forty five minutes each over three
hours. The musicians assembled on the upper tier of the small, split level, one
room pub. The weather fine, the door and windows open, the sound of New Orleans
jazz drifted down the banks of the Tyne (Stan Laurel’s statue danced a jig),
the tied-up fishing fleet bobbing to the syncopated rhythms.
Mr Bacon plays it strict. A
disciple of the music of New Orleans ,
he pays homage to his heroes – George Lewis, Bunk Johnson and others. A model
of economy of style, Bacon invited the larger-than-life Annie Hawkins (double
bass) to participate in this first festival of New Orleans jazz. The contrast stark, the
playing first rate. The drumming minimalist, the bass playing dynamic. Banjo
player Roger Howlett goes way back with Bacon and he sat between the two
unfazed by the visual treat (Hawkins) to his left. The front line – Mrs Liz
Bacon (clarinet), trumpeter Martyn Sharp and Jeff Milner (trombone) – worked well together, sharing the solos
(Hawkins bagged her share), Sharp and Milner the vocalists. All I Do is Dream of You, I’m Looking For a Four
Leaf Clover (Sharp vocals), Brahms
Lullaby and a clarinet feature for Liz Bacon – In the Garden – got things off to a good start.
The intervals were short, there
was much to fit in. Second set – a spirited Don’t
Give Up the Ship, an excellent CC
Rider (Sharp muted trumpet, Milner winning vocals), Take My Hand Precious Lord (Liz Bacon clarinet) and Don’t Sweetheart Me – more than matched
the first and the final set maintained the standard. Just a Little While to Stay Here, Lady Be Good (Mattie McElvogue
sat-in on trumpet), Dinah (McElvogue
stayed on), then The Dallas Blues (Sharp
back in harness) and Ice Cream made
for a fantastic finale to the first day of the Bell and Bucket New Orleans Jazz
Festival.
Paul Bacon referred to the New
Orleans Jazz Club on Forth Banks in 
2 comments :
Yes I saw George Lewis there in fact he played there twice.
He did not open the club it had been going for years before.
I was invited back stage to meet him in and there were several photos
of local musicians taken with him.
Yes I was there on that occasion and in fact that may be a copy of my ticket which I still have somewhere
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