Sunday Night @ The Globe: JazzMain - April 25

(Photo by Debra Milne)

Nick Gould (tenor sax); Steve Grossart (keys); Iain Harkness (5 string electric bass); Kevin Dorrian (drums).

Always good to hear JazzMain when they make their occasional forays south of the border down Railway St. way. 

Sunday in New York was an appropriate starter. Admittedly we weren't in New York but it was Sunday and, being Sunday, we were virtually in The Globe which is the next best thing to being in Birdland. Indeed, on a Sunday night in Newcastle, it's the only game in town. Lockdown or no lockdown these guys hadn't neglected their chops.

Johnny Mandel's Cinnamon & Cloves; Dizzy's Tin Tin Deo and a luscious version of Darn That Dream kept things at a relatively high level before the ante was lifted with Friday Night at the Cadillac Club. This Bob Berg number would have had the crowd shakin' it and letting it all hang out had there been a crowd to do such lascivious things ... in about 3 weeks I think/hope.

Hank Mobley provided Funk in Deep Freeze, Tom Jobim came up with the inevitable bossa nova - Favela - which made space for sax and bass to flex their muscles and Grover Washington added Mr Magic.

By the time we reached the last number which, in time-honoured show business tradition, turned out  not be the last number at all, I had made a few reflections.

(Photo by Debra Milne)

That they managed to get through a gig without the meaningless round of fours that most bands today seem to regard as a rite of passage was a distinct plus. Steve Grossart played some excellent solos although, personally, I'd have preferred to have heard them played with a more traditional piano sound rather than the tinkle-tinkle electronic sound. As ever Harkness was as sound as a Scottish pound and Dorrian, although restricted solowise, seized the moment when it thrust upon him - impressively. Oh yes, and there's also Nick Gould who can hold his own in any company on his great tenor sound alone!

The final final number, Horace Silver's The Hippest Cat in Hollywood, could easily have been re-named as The Hippest Cats in Holyrood!

Come back soon.

Lance