Debra
Milne (vocals); Steve Summers (sop/ten sax, hand drums, tabla, percussion);
Alan Law (piano); Paul
Grainger (bass); Tim Johnston (drums)
(Review by Ann Alex)
The
band gave us a very enjoyable, varied, and adventurous programme of groovy,
boppy, Latin numbers and Debra is to be congratulated for attempting some
rather difficult songs. I loved Steve
Summers sax solos, these were real solos which displayed a genuine connection
with the original tunes and chords, not just a cacophonous collections of
sounds, such as I’ve heard sometimes from more famous names. And he’s a dab hand on hand drums (sorry to
be repetitive!) and percussion. The rest
of the band did their stuff admirably, Alan steaming away on keys, even after
an afternoon of teaching on the Jazz Co-op workshop: Paul as dependable and
skilled as ever; and Tim drumming sensitively in the many ways demanded by the
tunes.
They’d
played Song For My Father before I
arrived, then up stepped Debra, a flower in her hair, with Wave, every word clear and sweet, followed by Coltrane’s groovy Equinox. Her next number Spain demanded tricky, bop-like singing,
then came Spooky ‘love is kinda
crazy, with a spooky little boy like you’ and Tim using mallets on the drums
for a spooky effect. Afro Blue opened
with just voice, bass and drums, then Steve moved sinuously down the scales on
sax, instrumentally interesting stuff. Miles Davis classic tune So What was sung, with lyrics by Eddie
Jefferson, about how ‘Miles Davis left the stage when his solo was over’. The
first half was rounded off with 2 of Debra’s regular songs, Consider Me Gone and Senor Blues.
The
second half began with an unusual wordless song, very pleasant listening, then
came the tune Killer Joe, with lyrics
by Debra (Relax). Other songs
included You’re In My Heart; a song
in Spanish with voice and piano only; Chick Corea’s Five Hundred Miles High and I’m
Comin’ Home. And at that point I had to go home, so perhaps someone else
could add a comment about the final part of the gig.
Ann Alex
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