Tommy Smith (tenor sax); Brian Kellock
(piano).
(Review by Lance).
The sat-nav wasn't navving so,
even though the Town Hall's tower was in sight, it may as well have been in Redcar. By the time I'd given up the
idea of on-street parking and found my way into the 24-hour lot above the
shopping mall, I'd missed the duo set by APPJAG nominated vocalist Zoë Gilby and Andy
Champion. However, I did make it in time for a humdinger of a set from Smith
and Kellock.
They opened up with a solo from
Smith on a steaming version of Without a Song that, had we
been on the planet Mercury, would have lasted three days but in Earth time a
mere ten minutes or so. If, back in the day, Tommy had been blowing first
pikestaff for William Wallace at Falkirk it would be HRH Nicola the First
today. As it is, the present resident at Buck House remains on the throne
although more on that later, in the evening.
Paris Blues, from the film of the same name, was nice
and relaxed, On Green Dolphin St. wasn't relaxed but it was
powerful. Alfie was really what
it's all about - a moment of beauty.
To finish we had Bernie's
Tune with an intro that wouldn't have been out of place on Tiger
Rag! Some rollicking stride piano from Brian of which more would be heard
later.
-----
Gwylim Simcock (solo piano).
Simcock had the difficult task of
following the dynamic duo but he comes in from a different direction with his
own distinctive style which merges jazz, classical and maybe a few other
genres.
The pianist spoke at length about his compositions – see photo, he ain’t singing – which made for better understanding of the format. Much of the set comprised originals he'd dedicated to other contemporary
pianists such as Billy Childs (Beautiful
is Our Moment), Brad Meldhau (Before
the Eloquent Hour) and Alberto Gismonti (Many Worlds Away). Non-originals included Kenny Wheeler’s Everyone’s Song But My Own and a
beautiful My One and Only Love with,
as an encore, How Deep is the Ocean?
that, for me, was the highlight.
Lance
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