Charlotte Glasson Group @ The Jazz Café. May 28

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.