Darlington Jazz Festival. April 25: The Late Night Festival Jam Session

(Review by Russell).

How many jazz musicians can you get into a Darlington telephone box? Following the Bruce Adams-Al Wood concert at the Dolphin Centre it appeared that most of those in the audience were keen to get along to the Quakerhouse pub to catch the late night jam session. The Camra award-winning pub isn’t the biggest hostelry in town and its loyal patrons regularly fill the place. A horde of jazz fans duly descended on the Mechanic’s Yard venue and stood at the door…

Getting into the Quakerhouse was all but impossible. The jam session’s house band – a quartet led by Mark Toomey (alto) with pianist Jeremy McMurray, Peter Ayton (bass) and drummer Paul Smith – set-up at one end of the downstairs room, the dimensions of the floor space being approximately 3m x 2m. The sitters-in, having hot-footed it from the Dolphin Centre, dropped their cases in the yard (there was nowhere else to put them), assembled horns where they stood, then attempted to squeeze through the door to find a spot on the crowded floor. First up were Bruce Adams and Al Wood. Star names, keen participants both, the stuff of great jam sessions. Seating for punters wasn’t an option, all stood. Those in the front row were but a few centimetres from the horns of Adams, Wood and Toomey. Indeed, Bebop Spoken Here’s Deep South correspondent Tony Eales made himself useful by holding Bruce Adams’ pint. Adams played a solo, stretched out an arm and there was his pint – ‘at hand’ you might say! Some of those eager to sit-in included Dean Stockdale, Tom Stephenson, Alex Baker, Amy Baker, Steve McGarvie, Alexander Bone, Uncle Tom Cobley ‘n’ all. They played Just Friends. An apposite number given the close proximity of innumerable bodies!

Two rockers (pub regulars) were amazed at the goings-on. Has he just met him? pointing at two musicians shaking hands on first acquaintance. How could they play like that? We couldn’t do that! You don’t say! Beer went down as fast as Mark Toomey could play. At sometime after two in the morning things started to wind down. Darlington Jazz Festival at the Quakerhouse – what more could you want? Sunday would soon be dawning.     

Russell.