(Report by Russell).
Tyneside has its share of high profile jazz gigs, it
also has a plethora of low key, long-running events at which enthusiasts do
their thing without fanfare, without seeking the support of funding bodies.
Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society is one such institution.
Members meet fortnightly in Gateshead Central Library
to discuss and listen to jazz. A varied programme, themes for 2015 include the
Great American Songbook, the female vocalist in jazz and a salute to Frank Sinatra.
There’s a Christmas quiz and, early in the new year, an observance of
obituaries notified during 2015.
At a recent meeting those present expressed their disappointment
upon hearing of a last minute change to the programme. One member came prepared;
Ron Guariento spoke at length, with audio illustrations, about the life and
career of Jerome Kern. Mr Guariento, a
student of the Gas Book, surveyed Kern’s song-writing output pre-Gas Book,
through to the silver screen classic musicals of Astaire and Rogers, to his
death in New York at the all-too-early age of sixty in 1945. In a personal
aside, Guariento recalled his visit to the Big Apple and making a pilgrimage of
sorts in walking along the street on which the subject of his presentation –
Jerome Kern – collapsed shortly before his untimely end.
Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society meets next on
Thursday 24 September. The subject will be: The
Title asks the Question – What? When? Where? Why? How? If? etc. It starts
at five o’clock. You’re sure of a warm welcome.
Russell.
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