(Review by Steve
T/Photos courtesy of Carlo Viglianisi)
Day three and the years, booze and late nights have caught up, so
apologies to Mark and Joel (pictured left), Barry and the Boys and Nebulas,
all of whom I heard good things about from people with longer legs and greater
stamina.
The Steve Glendinning Quartet gave a legendary
performance at the Empty Shop a couple of years back and I know Steve will
forgive me for saying the audience were mesmerised by the creative virtuosity
of vibraphonist Chris Jelly. They both feature in fine funk band King Bee but
the quartet gives them greater opportunity to show what they've got and,
my goodness, what a lot they've got. Solid bass and drums too who are happy to
stay back.
Some Pat Metheny, some Chick Corea, a fine original in a later
Santana vein, Steve taking several opportunities to rock it up, this was a
strong contender for set of the festival, and everyone I spoke to agreed.
Some people stuck around for the Sue Ferris Quartet, some
crossed the bridge to the Empty Shop for Triptych, some of
those returned to see both and others, myself included, watched a bit of
Sue before heading over to catch a bit of Triptych.
Sue is always wonderful, a soulful player and a genuinely lovely person
who always plays a tasteful set of lesser known gems from the greats including
lesser known greats. She also had a cracking band of Dean Stockdale, Paul
Grainger and boy wonder Matthew Mackellar depping on drums.
Triptych (pictured left) were deeper and funkier than I'd expected, with a definite Fender Rhodes
sound which took me by surprise and means Paul Edis just about covers
the entire spectrum across the various bands he fronts or features in. Serious
music but in a different way to Sue, with mostly original compositions aimed at
the head.
At the end he paid a sincere and heartfelt tribute to Carlo for his role
in the festival, acknowledging that, as a Chester-le-Street lad, he would
have loved this growing up. I had similar thoughts, having grown up in Durham
City, odd unknowing flirtations notwithstanding, my introduction to Jazz
(funk) was at mid-week nights at the old Coach and Eight, a triple jump from
the Empty Shop. A seventeen year old me wouldn't have believed it.
Shock of the festival for me came from the Danny
Allan Band. Great sax player who was happy to leave the
stage to let the rest of this excellent band run and run. Not
just a saxophone quartet, it was like alternating with a piano trio, like
two bands for the price of one, sometimes funky, sometimes straight.
The closing party was at Jam Jah, an institution in Durham
for a number of years, which began with another jam session and I regret
to inform you, number one son was dominant again. A local professional drummer
from a pop/rock covers band had played the final number at the Friday jam
session which turned out to be Spain which he'd never heard,
so good effort. Tonight they put together a funk workout to play to his
strengths, FDT ramping it up to a funky blues, giving him carte blanch to just
play and play without anyone thinking he should take the plectrum out of his
hand.
The regular Jam Jah DJ brought the festival to a close with
some funk, soul, fusion, disco, club classics, hip hop, rare groove - these
terms become redundant - including Roy Ayers, Lamont Dozier, Idris Muhammed, Thundercat and Fela Kuti; and some reggae too.
First Class Honours with stars to Heather, Nick, Carlo and Ali and
everybody who worked tirelessly to put this together, and I'm already looking
forward to part two.
Steve T
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