Graham Hardy (trumpet); Jamie Toms
(tenor sax); David Gray (trombone); Mark Ferris (trombone); Phil Rosier (tuba);
Adam Sinclair (snare drum); Brendan Murphy (bass drum) + George Welch (vocals)
(Review by
Russell)
A typical Friday night out: Meet at
the old coal yard. You know, the place on the industrial estate just off Byker
Bridge...Aye, right, what's happening?... Graham Hardy has fixed-up a CD launch
at Northern Alchemy....Great, see you there!
Shields Road was a hive of inactivity
except for Spoons and the Butcher's Arms doing a bit of business. A mere
stone's throw past a soulless giant supermarket there was some monkey business
- make that Northern Monkey Business - going on. Turning into
Elizabeth Street the sight and sound of dozens of monkeys quaffing and munching
ahead of a set by the Northern Monkey Brass Band set the tone for what would
surely prove to be a memorable evening.
Together in Electric Dreams (Human
League), Water of Tyne (traditional, Tyneside), Sports
Direct Infirmary Blues (topical), Flash Gordon, Attitude (on
the new album), Funky Pie (a NMBB classic), a host of others,
including a second liner (traditional, Mississippi) and not one but two encores
- yes, a canny night alright!
Bandleader and trumpeter Graham
Hardy kitted out the monkeys in new NMBB t-shirts and made sure there was a
supply along with copies of the new CD - Northern Monkey Business -
for the punters to pick-up at the end of the night. As the set progressed and
the beer went down the 'dance floor' - aka the old coal yard's cement floor -
filled with popping, skanking bodies, the NMBB has that effect on listeners -
great musicianship, infectious grooves and, in the best sense, a good time feel
to the music.
Star Wars to Flash Gordon, the NMBB
connected with its audience and along the way Hardy's Monkeys dazzled as real
jazz players; fellow trumpeter Alistair Lord handled most of the top C stuff,
Jamie Toms booted the tenor, then there was Showtime...David Gray's 'bone
blasts shook nearby Byker Wall to its foundations and, great to see - and hear
- fellow 'bone man Mark Ferris giving it some! The engine room boys pulled the
horn section this way then that, master craftsmen, that's tuba maestro Phil
Rosier and the rhythm twins Adam Sinclair (snare) and Brendan Murphy (bass drum).
A real bonus on the night - as on the
album - the legendary George Welch joined the NMBB to sing Water of
Tyne. The man drew tumultuous applause. It was time to go, almost...I
Want You Back was Hardy's 'spare' just in case an encore was called
for. It was never in doubt! From the Jacksons to a Grandmaster Flash second
encore, a third was a possibility considering the baying throng wasn't going
anywhere but, as sometimes happens, the house lights went up. Yes, it had been
a canny night.
Russell
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