Jazz Café Jam Session - April 3

(Review by Lance).

Easter - students have gone home, outside a mini monsoon is flooding the streets, the audience arrives in dribs and drabs, perhaps thinking that they too should have gone home. The trio start playing, it's stopped raining and folks are glad they didn't stay home.
Some have travelled from London, from Northallerton, from Edinburgh and various points in between.

I Should Care; Prelude to a Kiss; Solar. Mark was on fire! Any young hopefuls who came in with a guitar case either kept it shut or drank up and went home to practice. Not so more senior performers with flugelhorn and flute cases. Hardened veterans such as Ray Johnston and Josie Bennington opened the batting for the visitors with a spirited version of Louis Bonfa's Samba De Orfeu and Brubeck's The Duke.
First vocal of the evening came from that hoary old campaigner Dave Weisser. Green Dolphin St. supplied the setting and Dave supplied the words before Jude Murphy blew a flute solo that blew everybody to buggery. The bar stood high for a long time tonight. It would get higher...and even higher...
The Early Birds were out late with James Metcalf and Alex Thompson making good use of the jazz knowledge absorbed from musical educationalist supreme, Paul Edis, and, of course, Sage Gateshead for helping facilitate it. Should this facility cease to be, as the Chinese whispers seem to be suggesting, it would be a disaster of the first order. James and Alex, with Matt Fairhurst (another comer) gave us There Will Never be Another You and I'll Remember April, We certainly will but not quite yet.
Martin Waugh was now on piano, David Gray wielded his trombone threateningly, Jude and Dave lurked, horns at the ready, Josie and Ray were upfront, Matt and PG brought up the rear awaiting Chloe Watson to give out with At Last which she did at last.
Strident, red-blooded and soulful, the spirit of Etta James was ever present.
The spirit of Etta was replaced by the spirit of John Coltrane as Johnson and Gray took the Blue Trane.
Ben Richardson and Harry Still dug in behind Dave and Jude on Beautiful Love before Early Birds James and Alex, along with David Gray, played Oleo. Ben Richardson took the kudos on this one. His solo drawing whoops and hollers from the audience.

Game over?
Enter John James Garner, violin.
An original and then a free for all on St. Thomas. The visiting violinist held his own - even  David Gray who blew a 'bone solo to die for didn't quite catch the funky fiddler.
Sadly, it was Metro time so I missed the return of Chloe.
Another fine jam you've got me into...
Photos.
Lance.
Mark Williams (guitar); Paul Grainger (bass); Russ Morgan (drums) + Ray Johnson (flugel); Josie Bennington (flute); Dave Weisser (cornet/vocal); Jude Murphy (flute/alto); Matt Fairhurst (drums); James Metcalf (trumpet); Alex Thompson (alto); Chloe Watson (vocal); David Gray (trombone); Martin Waugh (piano); Harry Still (drums); Ben Richardson (piano); John James Garner (violin).