(Review by Russell/Photo by Ken Drew from the evening gig at Jazz Café).
Another full house. You Stepped Out of a Dream, I’m Old
Fashioned, One Note Samba. Pianist Paul Edis invited reeds maestro Alan
Barnes to travel ‘up north’ to play a couple of gigs. The first of them in the
studio theatre at the Gala, Durham attracted yet another capacity
audience…’What’s New?’ you might say.
The presence of Alan Barnes
signalled a step change in the profile of musicians invited to perform at the
monthly lunchtime session. The region’s finest have played fine sets at the
venue, but a musician as well known as Alan Barnes indicates how successful the
venture has become.
From the start this was a swinging session. Edis at the
Roland RD-300 and a wise-cracking Barnes alternating between alto, baritone and
clarinet, strolled through the hour-long performance delighting the crowd with
superb improvisations on standards and a couple of Edis’ compositions. Barnes
introduced Edis’ For Bill telling the
audience Bill Haley was the inspiration. The reedsman reached for his
spectacles saying he would take the opportunity to plug his spectacles
sponsor…the 99p shop! The one-liners never fail to make people laugh. Is there
anything better than Barnes’ often self-deprecating jokes and the wonderful
music produced by the musicians on the stand? The room afforded Barnes the
opportunity to play acoustically – clarinet in homage to Bill Evans and again
on Have You Met Miss Jones? Earlier
AB opened on alto on Brown and Khan’s You
Stepped Out of a Dream then switched to baritone on I’m Old Fashioned (Kern and Mercer). Barnes told a tale of
confusion between a baritone and bass saxophone, adding that Bruce Adams once
suggested it was: The same old crap, just
an octave lower.
Edis suggested they play Moonglow. Barnes suggested Edis play the
first chorus. What a treat! The melody, stride piano, fabulous interplay.
Another Edis composition – Lines – found
Barnes reaching once again for his specs. This
one’s difficult he said, showing the sheet music to the audience. It did
look a little complicated. AB said it looked like ripped out knitting or a
cross section of black pudding! Needless to say he (and Edis) played it
superbly. Highlights were many, not least Wes Montgomery’s West Coast Blues (Barnes on alto) and, of course, the one-liners.
You can hear Edis and Barnes again
tonight at the Jazz Café on Pink
Lane in Newcastle .
They will be working with the excellent bass and drums pairing of Paul Susans
and Rob Walker. Eight o’clock start in the upstairs room, admission on the door
£10.00.
Russell.
Two fantastic sets at the evening gig too - same jokes though!
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