Paul Edis (piano, vocals); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums) + Roly Veitch (guitar, vocals); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); James Birkett (guitar); Zoë Gilby (vocals)
The annual Blaydon Jazz Club Christmas Party, specifically the DIY buffet, long ago acquired mythical status. Down the decades - yes, Blaydon Jazz Club is well into its fourth decade! - the December concert has become a much-loved affair. This year's festive musical offering came in the form of the Paul Edis Trio...and guests.
Santa Claus is coming to (Blaydon) Town with Monkish bop overtones opened the party. Every time your scribe hears the trio he concludes that they - Edis, Andy Champion and Russ Morgan - would more than hold their own at any of NYC's famous jazz clubs. Last night's performance at the Black Bull did nothing to dispel this view.
Blaydon Jazz Club supremo Roly Veitch (guitar) joined the party, clearly taking delight in working with such a decent backing trio! Similarly Graham Hardy (trumpet and flugelhorn) stepped up and later in the evening friend of Blaydon Jazz Club, master guitarist James Birkett would borrow Veitch's guitar to play Lover Man.
Edis and Veitch opened the second set as a duo with their take, featuring Veitch's vocals, on Ray Noble's The Touch of Your Lips. This number, perhaps more than any other, encapsulated Blaydon's enduring commitment to the Great American Songbook. Whiskers (comp. Edis) encapsulated the (NYC!) brilliance of the Paul Edis Trio. Swinging like nobody's business, piano, bass and drums took it in turn to lay down stupendous solos with drummer Morgan delivering a brushwork masterclass into the bargain.
Blaydon Jazz Club's audience thoroughly enjoyed an evening of top class jazz, and, it should be said, made light work of a gargantuan buffet. It was good to see former Early Birder and Sage Gateshead BMus students (graduate and undergraduate) enjoying a night out. As they listened to the PE3 perhaps they were thinking: One day that could be me...
To close a star-studded evening the Straight No Chaser encore featured the vocals of none other than Zoë Gilby. A pub in Blaydon-on-Tyne presenting world-class jazz...eat yer heart out, NYC!
Russell.
1 comment :
Sorry, Russell, I don't remember vocals on SPEAK LOW -which is a shame as, having learnt from this review that they were penned by Ogden Nash, I'd have liked to hear them. I would mention the vocals on IT TAKES TIME which were very Randy Newman and also those on SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN (neither Dinah Washington nor Sinatra, but very smooth and mellow-toned indicating clearly the progress Paul has made in this department).
JERRY
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