Stuart Finden (gtr); Fiona Finden (ten/vcl); Andrew Porritt (bs); + Ann Alex, Barry Keatings (vcl); Dave Parker (bs); Dave Speake (dms).
(Review by Lance).
Jam sessions - irrespective of whether you call them Jams, Workshops or Blow as You Pleases, at the end of the day it's open season for all who wish to put up or shut up - few take the latter option.
Today was low key - drummer missing and no hungry hornmen champing at the reed to despatch their contemporaries to the cutting room floor.
Nevertheless, despite a shortage of contenders and an audience that occupied all of one table, Mr and Mrs Finden got the ball rolling with The Message, a tune written by Nick Weldon whom Russell informed us was the son of novelist Fay Weldon and whom I revealed had written a novel about a jazz trumpet player who takes a married woman off to France with him and the band and his daughter although not his wife. Are you with me? (That's jazz for you I hear you sigh). The book, incidentally, is called Leader of the Band.
The leader of the band today was Stuart Finden, not on tenor, but on guitar which he is also very capable on. Mrs F (Fiona) blew tenor and sang quite exquisitely although it did cause me to ponder upon the domestics when spouses are in the same band.
Instead of "You promised me you'd cut the lawn and wash the dishes", is it "How could you? How could you play a Db major 7th when you knew I needed an E minor augmented 9th. Do that again and you and I are diminished!"
I'm sure no such altercations took place today.
Fi continued with Secret Love and Sister Sadie before BSH reviewer Ann Alex took us down Green Dolphin Street and sang Bye Bye Blackbird and If I Were a Bell.
Fiona sang/played Corcovado - she gets a good Lester/Getz tenor sound these days.
Barry Keatings did All Blues; Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You and It's Only a Paper Moon.
Of course the main thing about Jams is the Sound of Surprise. I missed last Tuesday's jam at the Jazz Café and, in doing so, missed an apparently superb young Japanese drummer from the Uni. Today, who should roll in but Dave Speake, drummer brother of ace sax man Martyn Speake.
Dave was performing later with Roxy Musique - a tribute band - and gave his jazz chops a work out on Billie's Bounce (Fi vocal); I Fall in Love Too Easily (Don't we all?). Ann sang It Don't Mean a Thing and Senor Keatings returned for Besame Mucho and Route 66. This latter number gave Dave Speake an opportunity to work out and, all in all, despite the lack of audience and jammers, it was a good afternoon.
Newcastle even beat Spurs away from home!
Lance.
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