Mark Toomey (alto sax); Jeremy McMurray (piano); Peter Ayton (double bass); Paul Smith (drums)
Alto saxophonist and Charlie Parker disciple Mark Toomey decided to plunge into the hitherto mysterious world of live streaming to capture for posterity his quartet's concert commemorating, exactly one hundred years to the day, the birth of Charlie Parker. Teesside based Toomey made no bones about it, live streaming on Facebook - and possibly YouTube - would be a new challenge...
Ornithology opened the set with a further five numbers to follow. The interior of St Peter's Church on Yarm Road looked rather grand. Mark's concert had been long in the planning with a string section booked to augment the regular quartet line-up. Needless to say, the pandemic put paid to that idea. Ornithology in front of an audience in such a setting on this historic day would have met with tumultuous applause. Mark consoled himself, remarking: Good. I enjoyed that.
An echoing, cavernous space doesn't do any favours on a gig like this, but, the occasion was all important. Your reviewer met with constant buffering, perhaps others fared better. If there was one online event worth sticking with, however disruptive the cyber world gremlins, this was it. Mark didn't grandstand, he let the timeless numbers speak for themselves and his band mates were very much part of the show. Pianist Jeremy McMurray was his usual ebullient self, the unmistakeable drumming of Paul Smith reverberated across the pews and over the ether with a socially distanced Peter Ayton, bass, to his left.
East of the Sun, then a 'slow blues', said Mark (Parker's Mood), the infectious ('accessible', said Mark) Little Suede Shoes would have had them dancing in the aisles, perhaps they were dancing at home. As he introduced If I Should Lose You Mark lamented the absence of strings. In these strange times Parker without strings was perfectly understandable. And to close, A Night in Tunisia. As the saying goes...BIRD LIVES!
Russell
No comments :
Post a Comment