(Review by Jerry)
York is a bit off BSH readers’ normal turf but
it’s worth flagging up a new venue and recommending that you check it out if
you are ever in the city. Micklegate Social is one of the first buildings
inside the wall at Micklegate: the staff are friendly, the beer is good and the
jazz is downstairs in an atmospheric cellar-room.
Organiser of tonight’s gig, Faye Thompson, IS
well-known to BSH readers from Earlybird , Jambone and more recently, Jazzy
Christmas. Her enterprise as a youthful impresario also deserves to be
acknowledged. In fact, “youthful” was a
key word tonight with Paul Edis looking positively avuncular when the gig
morphed into a jam session after his solo set. And if the musicians were young,
the audience seemed even more fresh-faced – to the extent that Paul prefaced
his usual mid-set sales pitch with the anxious question: “Do any of you still
buy CD’s?” It is reassuring to see jazz performed by talented youngsters and
applauded by friends and fellow students: it has a future!
Paul Edis (piano/vocals).
Paul Edis’ solo set I will skim over with indecent haste (sorry,
Paul) for two reasons: firstly, for me, tonight was mostly about the other
musicians on the bill; secondly other BSH contributors have run out of
superlatives reviewing his work and there is little else I can sensibly add.
There were 11 tunes varying from Giant
Steps to Greensleeves; there were
4 numbers with vocals; there were standards like I Could Have Danced All Night and there were originals such as the
spellbinding Vignette. All were
hugely enjoyable.
Prior to this set the audience of 40 + was
entertained by two quartets comprising seven young musicians (only seven
because electric bass player, Lukas Kamm, featured in both combos) who showcased
their musicianship in well-known pieces and their compositional skills by way
of a couple of original tunes.
Owen Russell (trombone); Richie Haynes (guitar); Lukas Kamm (electric bass); Susan Rutter (drums).
First up was the trombone-led Owen Russell Quartet
who opened with one such original – a ballad entitled One Moment Please. This featured clear, smooth trombone (which put
me in mind of Black Orpheus), a fluent
electric bass solo which got good applause and subtle brush-work by drummer,
Susan Rutter.
Stella by
Starlight
upped the tempo and gave us trombone with a bit more “edge”. One forgets, when
the trombone is tucked in with the other horns (seldom occupying centre stage),
how expressive an instrument it can be. Owen Russell demonstrated that
expressiveness admirably and Richie Haynes also shone here with a
clean-picking, foot-tapping guitar solo while some trading fours gave the
drummer some scope too.
Their third number was, I think, Where Do We Go from Here? Which my wife
adjudged to be “particularly lovely”. Here the drummer used timpani mallets and
I could not help but notice how attentively she watched her fellow musicians
while playing, keeping everything together. That togetherness was to the fore
on their final number – a rabble-rousing take on Sonny Rollin’s Oleo with funky electric bass, another
fine guitar solo, more fours and a well-timed snap ending.
Hank Mobley’s This
I Dig of You was the wake ‘em up call opening the set by the Faye Thompson Quartet. This
immediately re-kindled the lively mood and loud applause. “Steady on”, I
thought, “they’ll be whooping and cheering next! How un-British!” And then they were (whooping, that is) after a
cracking version of Strayhorn’s U.M.M.G
featuring a solo sax intro, lots of fours for the drummer (whose name I missed)
to strut his stuff. Ironically, I managed to miss the drummer’s name as he
continued drumming (albeit quietly) through Faye’s name-check! I’ll listen
harder next time!
Double praise next for Faye Thompson’s mellow sax
on her own original composition, Clouded
Hills(?), a beautiful lyrical ballad. There was some excellent piano from
Rebecca Hall, too, really capturing the mood. A piano solo, next time, would be
nice!
Then (all too soon, in my opinion) it was Sonny
Rollins to finish again with the catchy, St.
Thomas. Google tells me that this was based on The Lincolnshire Poacher via a Virgin Islands nursery rhyme. Eh?
Someone will need to guide me through that one: I know that folk tune by heart
and honestly cannot see the connection. However, I would have to say that since
Rollins and Faye got their hands on it it’s a much better tune than when I sang
it with my Nan in Grantham!
At this point – past our bed-time as the token
senior citizens in the audience – we had to leave. We missed three “jam-style”
numbers which were, I am told, excellent too. Wish we’d been there!
So, congrats to Micklegate
Social and to Faye (and the guy I chatted to in the bar) for organising the gig
and to all the musicians who played. A delightful evening!
Jerry
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