Michael Lamb (trumpet); Sue Ferris (alto/tenor sax); Stu Collingwood (keys); Mick Shoulder (bass); Tom Chapman (drums).
(Colour photos by Russell/BW by Lance)
It wasn't perfect - thank goodness! If it had been perfect it wouldn't have been jazz it would have been a smoothie or a take on an album that had been welded together over x number of months/years!
This was take one and no time for a second chance - they didn't need it although the opening number did have a degree of uncertainty but hey! this was their first gig in recent times as a band - it was good. It couldn't get any better could it?
You're darn tootin' it could! (which B movie western did I pick that one up from?)
They may have been in captivity but by the second number, the chops were in and they were relishing their (sadly short-lived) freedom.
Leader Lamb blew as blistering as ever - Clifford Brown lives! - and Sue Ferris laid waste to any genre/gender preconceptions. Gutsy tenor and, surprise, surprise, great alto playing. Stu Collingwood knows the score, he's been round the block, he knows when to lay back or punctuate the ensembles and the soloists with his intuitive fills before making full use of the 88 notes (or was it a 72 job?)
Behind every great band there's a bass player and Mick Shoulder is your man for all seasons. Whether playing guitar or bass in a Hot Club setting or, like tonight, hard-bopping on Railway St. Mick's your man - man!
Tom Chapman came in as a last minute dep and didn't disappoint. Whether doing the exhibito (my word) stuff that comes with the territory for drummers or adding subtle nuances to what was happening up front he did it well. He plays as loud as the loudest and yet, such is his delivery it doesn't smash the light bulbs.
Oh yes, the music - I almost forgot to mention the music and it was choice.
Purloined, if not totally but at least in spirit, from the Blue Note catalogue we heard numbers from Bobby Shew, Duke Pearson, Joe Gordon - memories of being knocked out by Joe at the City Hall in the 1960s - Roy Hargrove, Steve Davis, Roland Alexander and the final Bernie's Tune. Taken at what may be described in classical terms as prestissimo it brought the evening to a grand finale.
Sadly, this was indeed the finale - at least for the time being - however, the live gigs continue online until at least December.
So keep watching - Jazz Co-op you are doing us proud!
Lance
Nice Groove (Shew); Sudel (Pearson); Big Bertha (Pearson); Terra Firma Irma (Gordon); Grove's Groove (Davis); Libra (Alexander); Darling I Love You (Shew); A Clear Thought (Hargrove); Bernie's Tune (Bernie Miller).
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