Charlotte
Glasson (tenor & soprano saxophones, flute, violin, melodica & saw),
Paul Taylor (trombone), Chris Spedding (guitar), Mick Hutton (double bass)
& Sam Glasson (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew.)
The Charlotte Glasson Group made
the long drive from Brighton picking up a
couple of London-based band mates on the way. Newcastle greeted them with teeming rain.
Glasson had previously played a Schmazz at the Cluny
gig and this Jazz Café date drew one or two who had been at that first Newcastle appearance. The
majority in the Jazz Café’s upstairs space were hearing the
multi-instrumentalist for the first time.
Glasson (Charlotte) plays all the
reeds but on this occasion she left behind a fair few of them – she couldn’t
fit them all in to her car! The range of instruments served Glasson well during
an eclectic set ranging from classic era jazz tunes to blues to ska to
rockabilly. The new CD – Festivus –
featured during the evening, as did the back catalogue, a tune so new its
working title is Tune With No Name
and a couple of jazz standards. Gumbo
Blues Walk opened the show with Glasson on tenor and Paul Taylor’s big
trombone sound. A switch to soprano on Something
New then flute on Travelling Band.
Three instruments on the first three tunes (each played with equal facility),
three other instruments to be heard later, the ebullient Glasson will never be
short of a gig! An arrangement of Jimmy Guiffre’s The Train and the River won favour with the hard core jazz fans in
the room (Glasson on tenor). Talking of the hard core…Black and Tan Fantasy played straight, respectfully. From the
Ellington/Miley masterpiece to Chris Spedding’s Gunfight. The guitar hero’s career is well documented (he has
played with everyone and has so many recording studio sessions to his name to
list them all would read like a telephone directory) and on this one he played
it rockabilly a la Duane Eddy.


Glasson played the melodica
(clever girl Wor Charlotte) on
Early Bird
Tango, flute took her fancy on
Early
Days with kid brother Sam Glasson showing he’s no mug with a top flight drum
solo. Bassist Mick Hutton contributed
Lister
(a tune about his father, who, on his death bed, offered to sell him his
watch!). Trombonist Paul Taylor does poetry stand-up (as indicated earlier, it
was an eclectic gig). He had the audience in stitches with a never- ending
series of observational jottings. The one about the poorly cleaned beard in the
Cluny…be sure to check-out
www.trombonepoetry.com Taylor does ska
(being multi talented is a prerequisite of band membership), so we got a
skanking
When You’re Feeling Low.
Brothel creeper Spedding sang
Louisana
and the eponymous
Festivus (a
festival for those who choose not to observe Christmas or other similar occasions)
enlisted an in-tune whistling audience to close a hugely entertaining night.
Oh, yes. Glasson called into B&Q on the way to the gig and bought a saw.
Not that she’s into DIY. She played it as an instrument. And she played violin!
And to think she left behind her other instruments! Clever girl Wor Charlotte! For
details of Glasson’s tour itinerary and her new CD visit
www.charlotteglasson.com
Russell.
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