Richard Burns (tpt);
Gary Turner (ten); Paul Edis (pno); Paul Susans (bs); Rob Walker (dms).
(Review/photo by Jerry)
Richard Burns keeps exhorting us
to tip the bar-staff: I never have (short arms, deep pockets) but I really
ought to. They shine. Everything at Hoochie Coochie shines – the chrome
fittings, the bar-top, the neon lights and as for the musicians…..
“The Pilgrim St. Set
just get better & better.” Apologies to Warren, whom I am quoting, but I’m
sure I THOUGHT it first! What I particularly like is that, over time, the ratio
of covers (“bed covers” / “Saturday night covers”??) to originals has shifted
to the point where only two numbers tonight (I think) were covers: Zappa’s Chunga’s
Revenge and Soli by Gong. The rest were all high-octane, high quality
originals by band members and I managed to catch some titles this time!
Ventouse was penned by Paul Susans and Progress by Richard Burns: Gary
Turner gave us Armadillo and (his take on An English Country Garden?) Plantlife.
An Edis original opened the second set and was followed by Number
One, inspired by Burns’ experiences of “riding the bus.” In the intro
he tried whistling into the mic’ then, dissatisfied with the result, inverted
his trumpet and whistled across one of the valves before returning to
conventional playing. Shame – there must be a place in jazz for Pan Pipe
improv? All seemed mellow to begin with (or was it just that I had graduated
from Beck’s Blue to London Pride?) but something exciting must have happened
mid-journey judging by the electrifying solos. It’s a pity Burns now has a car
(he told us so last month) as who knows what the 21X from Bishop Auckland might
have inspired!
He also told us last month about building a compost store and
tonight we learnt that he was moving house (“any volunteers?”). When he asserts
that people seeking anecdotes are “clearly in the wrong place” he is
seriously under-selling himself!
The second set also featured a
“world premiere” of an Edis original – Elastic – which Burns declared
“difficult – it has 20 notes” but the band managed to stretch to that! And Conkers
(Gary Turner) which the tall trumpeter averred was about “smashing your mate in
the face when you’re a kid”! It certainly made an impact with the audience who
demanded an encore…..and were rewarded with Spug(?) by Paul Susans
for which my scribbled notes were: “slow-burner – lotsa noise eventually – Rob
goes crazy” , as did we all!
Warren says he “knows nowt”: I
probably know less but I know what I like. This excellent venue and these
musicians are giving me more and more of what I like!
Jerry.
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