What I Did at Durham City Jazz Festival (DJazz) - Saturday, June 8

(Review by Ann Alex/photos by Russell)

'Get scribing' was what Steve Tulip said to me as he kindly gave me a lift back to Durham station on Saturday evening. Russell and I had already decided what we'd cover and I'd guess that Steve will put in his tuppence which may be more like five shillings!  Anyway, it falls to my lot to begin with The Nu-Bossa Band, of whom I caught the last few songs at 3pm, a delayed finish in the DJazz Bar.

They are father-daughter duo Inês and José Gonçalves (vocals, keys. guitar); Ben Fitzgerald (percussion); Thomas Dixon (tenor sax). They bring us Latin and Afro-Cuban music composed by the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim, new wave music which was originally a reaction to samba. This was a good way to becalm yourself after the excitement of Aku (see Russell's piece). Inês sang sweetly sad songs such as If You Never Come To Me and Dindi in Portuguese, and the hand drums were noticeably interesting, very rhythmically flowing and relaxing.

Over to the Pop-Up venue to hear Jelly Cleaver (pictured above) on vocals, guitar and electronic effects. Ms Cleaver is a Durham University graduate who is a producer and singer/songwriter, with jazz, contemporary folk, and punk influences. She gave us wide-ranging material, such as  Afro Blue; Lullaby Of Birdland; God Bless the Child; I Want To Dance With Somebody; That's Alright (gospel); Like A Star (from Corinne Baillie Rae); Ain't No Mountain Higher. Her original songs included one about the Windrush scandal with spoken samples. Not all jazz, and she explained that she normally does jazz with a quintet, so this lessened the effectiveness of these numbers. The set was generally enjoyable, although I thought that she mentioned the release of her latest album, The Dream Jazz Manifesto a few times too many.

Next in the DJazz Bar came Soul of St Funkbert, where I heard my favourite female voice of the day. This was Sophia Atkinson, who sang along with Zach Fox (Sax); David Bullock (guitar); Danny Booth (keys); Michael Young (drums); Isaac Merchant (bass); Ben Bucknall (percussion). Ms Atkinson's vice was a pleasing alto which was just about right for the funk/soul material. Funk has a place in jazz festivals I reckon because you get jazz-like solos between the verses of songs. The band members are all from Durham University and I didn't catch the names of some of the tunes but I believe one tune was In Man's Hands, followed by the classic I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free and the set was rounded off with Never Can Say Goodbye.

Russell has covered Moses Boyd Exodus but I can't resist some comments, though really words are not an adequate way to describe music at all, but we do our best, otherwise there'd be no such thing as music blogs. The band made a very impressive beginning, rumbling drums, breathing sax, pulseless sound, until a guitar tune arose up. In other numbers, there were unusual sounds from the box on top of the keyboard, DJ like business, and diverse influences were obvious, from jazz, electronic music, African chants. They played with such enthusiasm that there was sweat on the trombonist's face. They said how pleased they were to be performing in Redhills, a community space.

The band which delighted me most was, however, the first one I heard which was Aku. We must have them downstairs at the Globe and also at the Black Swan. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, loud wonderfully raucous tenor sax, then he picked up a baritone and did the same but more so! Mr Sax, who invented the saxophone, must be turning in his grave, not what he meant at all! During one of the tunes, I noted that the trombone played the same riff throughout the whole piece, which is really difficult. (I know because I once had to sing the same riff whilst in a choir and it's almost impossible to keep consistency). 'Driving rhythms and furious improvisation' said the programme notes, an apt description. I laughed when they said it was good to see the audience enjoying themselves, not like in Edinburgh. The band are from Glasgow. Enough said.

Thanks again to the lovely co-operative people on steward duty. A great festival!

Ann Alex