Dave Hignett (trumpet/flugel); Niall Armstrong (tenor sax); Kevin Wright (keys); Conor Hignett (bass guitar); Dom Neeson (drums) + Barbara Hignett (vocals); Sophie Speed (alto sax).
(Review by Lance).
Swinging hard bop with a touch of funk and jazz rock. Blue Note is alive and well with an ace quintet plus 2.
The gaffa, and the term is appropriate, blew trumpet as if it were the eve of Armageddon with the thunder and lightning outside suggesting it might well be! Yes, Gaffa Hignett had it, along with the wandering Roland pedal, taped.
Alongside him, Niall Armstrong whom I tend to associate more with baritone rather than tenor sax (catch him on the bigger instrument with Saxophonics) was an ideal frontline partner - think Hank Mobley or Benny Golson with the Jazz Messengers.
The rhythm section were all faces new to me. Kevin Wright played the proverbial blinder with ne'er a chart to guide him. Conor Hignett did the business on bass guitar and drummer Neeson has emerged from within the ranks of the Tyne Valley Big Band led by Dave Hignett as a musician going places.
Another Tyne Valley alumni was Sophie Speed - her dexterity on alto attested to the aptness of her surname. Sophie held her own when answering the call.
Finally, yet another Hignett in the form of Barbara whose distinctive vocal style made the earth move! This girl takes no prisoners.
A good mix of standards: Softly as in a Morning Sunrise; St. Thomas; Route 66 (vocal); Sway (vocal); Mack the Knife (vocal + Sophie); Sweet Love of Mine (Woody Shaw); Chameleon (+ Sophie); I Don't Know Why (vocal - a Norah Jones number sung with just the rhythm section); All of Me (vocal).
A short interval - outside the storm raged - nobody was leaving, nor would they have done if the sun was shining!
The band got back on their heads for There Will Never be Another You followed by a number titled Corey Wong by American funk band Vulfpek proving a song doesn't have to be 80 - year - old to blow jazz on!
Barbara did go back through the decades for Lady is a Tramp but with the aid of Sophie the band moved forward for Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island.
Dom was featured on the Whiplash version of Caravan which saw the drummer applying the whip as if he were Frankie Dettori riding a camel to victory. The other five weren't caught short either (Sophie stayed aboard).
The evening finished with Barbara and an approximate version of Honeysuckle Rose and an all-out blast on Hallelujah I Just Love Him So.
And, you know what? It had stopped (well almost) raining!
Lance
PHOTOS
PHOTOS
1 comment :
Thanks Lance! Not bad for our first outing!
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