Matt Anderson Quartet @ Ushaw College, June 30.

 Matt Anderson (tenor sax), Peter Lee (piano), Will Harris (double bass), Jay Davies (drums).

(Review by Steve T)

Matt claimed his reworking of Trane’s Countdown, renamed Count Up was the only bona fide Jazz piece they played, but later remembered Shorter’s Iris also counted. Last time he played Ushaw Matt was with a sextet dedicated to Shorter so we can guess that this is close to his heart, but that was when Jazz was temporarily reassigned to Ushaw’s own Jazz Caff whilst decorating went on in the Jazz Lounge.

I would argue this was all as jazz as it gets: tenor sax, piano, double bass and drums on a Friday night in my favourite north east venue, Matt’s originals and one by pianist Peter Lee (a good North East name) giving two master tenoristas a run. 

The more belligerent reader may have noticed that I generally cite Durham’s Empty Shop as the 'coolest' regular Jazz night in the region, but I'm a senior citizen there and a sprightly youngster propping up the bar at Ushaw.

To a man, the band were cool and I love to see Jazz musicians respect the past with jackets and stuff, and you always know when the jacket comes off it's about to get serious. So it was for the final piece of the first set, the highlight of the night, which began at a regular pace before - totally unexpectedly - swinging off at speed, then back, then off again.

Just over thirty made the venue look busy, with all tables occupied, but there was plenty room for a few more who, I've no doubt, would have loved it as much as those of us who were there did.

Steve T.