Freddy Garner (piano); Jim Collins (flute, tenor/alto sax); James Adolpho (double bass); Erryl Roberts (drums) + Leo Sheldon (alto sax)
It had begun to rain when I set off for Stockport and, by the time I got there it was bucketing it down. Despite the terrible weather there was a large group of people waiting to hear pianist Freddy Garner, a veteran of the north west jazz scene, his style being similar to Hampton Hawes or Victor Feldman with bits of Bill Evans thrown in.
However, things got off to a rocky start. When Freddy was assembling his Nordic 2 keyboard the stand collapsed and all efforts to fix it failed. Fortunately, the Railway has an upright piano so that was utilised and the show started on time at 9:00pm. Tonight Freddy was ably assisted by the above musicians. Also sitting in during the second half was a young alto player Leo Sheldon who joined Jim on Green Dolphin Street and Billie’s Bounce. He had a nice sound and went down well with the audience.
To conclude, it was a great evening of jazz and it was good to see a large number of young people in the room which added to the atmosphere. Jim Collins played some fantastic solos and his flute work on Forest Flower was exceptional. James Adolpho on bass reminds me a lot of Paul Chambers. Erryl Roberts, who jumped in at minutes notice, kept things nice and solid doing some interesting brushwork on the slower numbers. Not much I can say about Freddy apart from observing that it’s amazing he is still performing to such a high standard. I find his energy inspiring.
The next event at the Railway is the Steve Pimlott Quartet on Sunday August 1. Mike Farmer.
Softly as in a Morning Sunrise; Speak Low; Beatrice; Forest Flower; Some Other Time; Voyage; Out of This World; If I Were a Bell; Green Dolphin Street; Billie’s Bounce; Black Nile; Caravan.
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