Matthias Seuffert (tenor sax); Robert
Fowler (alto sax); Menno Daams (trumpet); Ian Smith (trumpet); Adrian Fry
(trombone/arranger); Martin Litton (piano); Alyn Shipton (double bass); Clark Tracey
(drums).
(Review by Lance).
The jewel in the crown of the Ushaw Jazz Festival 2019 or so
we all thought. Up to now audiences had been reasonable in numbers so surely this would be the one where they'd be turning people away.
It wasn't. Had they all gone to Headingley? Had the heatwave drawn them to the seaside or had those who were knocked out by Xhosa Cole and Francis Tulip migrated to their gig held in Newcastle?
Answers are needed.
No questions were needed musically. For those who were aware that there was jazz before Robert Glasper - even before John Coltrane (honest!) - this was the time and the setting to worship.
Buck Clayton's place in jazz history was established back in the 1930s when he joined Count Basie and, years later, with his own bands and jam sessions. For this concert the emphasis, said leader, bassist and BBC broadcaster Alyn Shipton, is on how a Buck Clayton band may have interpreted the music of Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges.
As those masters are now all long gone - this was Buck Clayton in Hi-Fi - live.
Close your eyes and you would have believed that Ushaw had raised the dead - reincarnation lives! Buck, Emmett Berry, Clark Terry, Nanton and Blanton, Jimmy Hamilton and Paul Gonsalves, Woodyard and Bellson. Johnny Hodges was there, and so many more - tell me, why weren't they breaking down the door?
After Johnny Hunter at the previous gig only one drummer could follow - Clark Tracey (pictured with Matthias Seuffert).
Trombonist Adrian Fry appeared to be the straw boss and his solos were merely sensational! Not only that, if they ever decide to remake The Glenn Miller Story - now that James Stewart is gone - Adrian is the man.
Fowler = Hodges & Bigard, Seuffert = Gonsalves and Hamilton, Daams & Smith = Clayton/Terry with Litton just a sittin' and a rockin' as Ellington and Shipton playing the role of Jimmy Blanton.
Sad that so few showed but, when I meet the absentees, I will feel so so superior!
Lance
Outer Drive:; Rockin' in Rhythm; Creole Love Call; Satin Doll; Mood Indigo; Globetrotter; I Got it Bad; C Jam Blues; Take the A Train; Shady Side of the Street; Newport Up; Don't Get Around Much Anymore; Broadway Babe; The Jeep is Jumpin'; Sophisticated Lady; Perdido;Sir Humphrey.
3 comments :
Hi Lance in answer to your question, yes some of us were at the Bridge for the Xhosa Cole / Francis Tulip gig. It was amazing these young guys are the real deal. Xhosa and Francis were joined by the extremely talented base player Shivraj Singh who we saw at Ushaw on Saturday and The wonderful Ben Lawrence on keys and a last minute drum seat taken by a fabulous young guy who had driven up from Birmingham to do the gig and was going to drive back! He was an absolutely power house, sadly to my shame I can't remember his name but I'm sure someone can supply it. It was a brilliant night of really top class musicians. Jazz is safe in the hands of the young.
Matthew Holmes is the name of the drummer at the Bridge last night!
Thank you apologies to Matthew
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