(Review by Russell)
DJazz: Durham City Jazz Festival is
three! Its inaugural weekend in June 2017 was an unqualified success, its
second year equally so and there is no reason to think this year's event will
be anything other than a runaway success. DJazz 2019 (June 7-9) organised
a launch event in the Courtyard Cafe housed within Palace Green Library, Durham
University.
The Courtyard Cafe boasts views of
the adjacent Durham Cathedral. There can't be many jazz venues situated next to
a UNESCO World Heritage Site! DJazz masterminds Carlo, Heather and Nick were on
hand to meet and greet and, crucially, orchestrate the 'big reveal' - this
year's headline act.
A bottle of Durham Brewery's Magus
(with its sober 'ecclesiastical' label design), a tempting chocolate brownie
resisted, the full house listened with bated breath as the DJazz team said a
few words about this year's festival. By design, new venues would be utilised -
ranging from the wonderfully named, intimate HolyGrAle beer bottle shop to the
majesty of Durham Cathedral - and new names (new names to DJazz) would be added
to the bill. A big plus this year is the re-siting of the DJazz Festival Hub
from Fowler's Yard to the recently redeveloped Riverwalk site with its
profusion of eateries and liquid refreshment establishments.
There will be the return of the North East Super Jam, Durham Uni Jazz
Soc Jam promises much, Matt Mackellar
flies in from Berklee, the Nu Bossa Band
will be on the Riverwalk free stage, Drs
Edis and Wilson will be improvising in the nave of Durham Cathedral (Edis
the pianist becoming Edis the organist!), Arun
Ghosh opens at Redhills on the Friday evening and twenty-four hours later
at the same venue, DJazz 2019 presents the headliner...Moses Boyd's Exodus! Yes, drummer extraordinaire Moses Boyd (of
Binker and Moses fame) is sure to sell out the Pitman's Parliament.
There is so much to look forward to -
for further details visit: djazzfestival.co.uk -
and in the coming weeks, BSH will post a detailed preview of DJazz 2019. That's
to come, here at the DJazz launch there was some jazz to listen to as Hand
to Mouth (being a jazz musician provides a precarious living!) played
two sets of music associated with the great Ella Fitzgerald-Joe Pass
partnership.
Vocalist Lindsay Hannon and
guitarist Bradley Johnston have got a thing goin' East coast
to West coast - whenever and wherever they perform the 'Ella and Joe'
connection is an absolute winner. The jazz icons - that's Ella and Joe -
appeared in the region; Ella at Newcastle City Hall and, memorably, at the
Newport Jazz Festival when George Wein flew in the greats of jazz to perform at
Ayresome Park (formerly home to Middlesbrough FC) and Joe at Gosforth Park
Hotel. This evening Lindsay and Brad gave another five-star performance. From The
Very Thought of You to Dindi, In My Solitude to My
Funny Valentine the Courtyard Cafe's audience gave its full attention
to this intimate recital of, as Humph would have said, the very best in jazz.
Another bottle of Magus (Cheers,
vicar), the chocolate brownie once again resisted, Lindsay/Ella and Brad/Joe
resumed with Lush Life - you could hear a pin drop. One
Note featured Brad playing zillions of them, Take Love
Easy (perhaps Hand to Mouth's signature number), Some
Other Time (Lindsay referencing Bill Evans), yes, this chance
partnership really does have a gig goin'.
For the record, Brad confirmed that
in addition to his own transcriptions many of the tunes heard tonight were
transcribed by his mentor James Birkett way back in the late seventies. Brad
kindly showed BSH Dr Birkett's handwritten charts. These living, breathing
documents - were they written on parchment?! - sure do beat the soul-less,
albeit convenient, iPad!
Russell
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