(Musings of Ann Alex/photo of organiser Carlo outside of Empty Shop by Russell).
I arrived in Durham on Saturday afternoon and was met with a woman singer who was doing quite well with jazz standards, at one end of the marketplace. I’m still not sure whether she was part of the festival – I suspect not, as she appeared to be accompanied by canned music. My luck was in as Tony Eales then appeared, as if by magic, and he directed me to the Empty Shop venue, which I’ve wanted to visit for ages. I just wished to check it out, but of course, I stayed for half an hour, I just couldn’t stop listening to Francis Tulip’s Quartet (reviewed elsewhere). I did worry that if they played any louder, we might all be buried in rubble if this very old building collapsed!
I left before the end and was met this time by heavy rain, which impeded my travels to The Claypath Delicatessen. I was quite unable to get through the door of this venue, which was blocked by the (er) rear end of a man who was very busy taking official photos of the band’s performance until an organiser asked him to move out of the way for a minute. Amusing stuff like this adds fun to festivals, for me it does, anyway.
The Julija Jaciente Trio (Julija on vocals, with Steve Glendinning on guitar and Paul Grainger on bass) were just rounding off their first set. The second set opened with Misty, with very skilled scat from Julija. I’m not into scat all that much, but Julija’s is very acceptable as it really fits into the song well and it isn’t just an add-on, but an integral part of the music. There’ll Never Be Another You followed, with really wild scat this time, but it worked well as it came across as humorous, almost as if our singer was making fun of herself. And we had the added attraction of a bass solo, and of course Steve’s wonderful guitar.
Then came the audience participation. I’m used to this from folk music clubs, but it’s more unusual in jazz circles. However Julija has the right sort of personality to make this a success. We were taught a simple song with the words ‘O adiar, adio, opa, opa opa’, two people were given shakers to play, and we were off. Then dancing was suggested by our singer, so a couple got up and did just that. The set was rounded off with a heartwarming version of What a Wonderful World, which is the first jazz song that Julija heard, many years ago. I guess that the first half must have been much longer and I’d missed it, and I wished I could be split in two. Julija's new CD of originals will be reviewed shortly by Lance.
I was interested to realise that at this venue, most of the audience was young, with many, being in Durham, students, whereas at the Empty Shop, the audience was older, mostly people I knew from the Gateshead Jazz Festival.
I then wandered vaguely in the direction of the Redhills Durham Miners Hall, and soon met others going there to hear Soweto Kinch (reviewed elsewhere). I sat in the seat of the delegate for pit number 35 (I wonder which pit that was?) and enjoyed the gig, and also found out what Freestyle (from hip hop culture) actually is. You learn lots at festivals. This one was wonderfully well organised, and the people on duty were very helpful.
I’ll be back next year!
Ann Alex
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