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| (Photo by Lance) |
This has been a good weekend for post hard bop bands. Keith Loftis on CD, Dave O'Higgins livestreaming from the 606 and, tonight, the Jeffrey Hewer Quartet at the APPJAG winning Globe Jazz Bar.
A choice collection of classics from the golden era that ran, give or take a decade or two, twixt post Parker and pre Ornette with Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham and Wayne Shorter providing much of the material that had the 'cats' purring and yet, for some reason, there were no shouts for more - there should have been - I guess Oliver Twist was dining elsewhere tonight.
A lot of the tunes played had been heard on Grant Green albums and Hewer is obviously a disciple although the chordal passages intermingled with his hornlike solos suggested he also has an ear to the past.
Powling, unknown to himself, came under a lot of pressure from your reviewer. Having heard Loftis and O'Higgins could this guy cut it? He didn't win but, nor did he lose, his hard blowing kept him in the game and there will be a lot of tenor players watching their backs.
Sam Jackson was under amplified - at least during the first set. Steve Hanley's blitzkrieg rendered the bass almost inaudible which posed the question as to why drummers need to be amplified in small venues? Things improved in the second set and, at last, I was able to appreciate the subtle sensitivity of his solos and the solid foundation he was setting down.
Hanley, as you may have gathered, was a drumming dynamo driving the frontline on to death or glory - nobody died!
He wore a mask throughout which may have been in respect of Covid guidelines or to evade the taxman. Being a jazz gig, I suspect it was the former.
Disappointment? Only one - they didn't have any CDs for sale. Hopefully that will be something for the future... Lance
Recorda Me; Someday my Prince Will Come; Minor League; Soultrane;The Kicker; Jean de Fleur; Night Dreamer; Short Story; You Stepped Out of a Dream; Solid.
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