Dave Weisser's Birthday Party - The music. Sept. 22

(Pic by Russell)

David Gray (trombone, vocal); Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Trombonist Gray is probably the coolest looking dude in the jazz world although his actual playing is hotter than the hobs of hell. In the course of a solo he can cover just about the whole history of jazz trombone from Kid Ory to Roswell Rudd and beyond - way beyond.

He demonstrated that tonight with his individual take on classics such as Autumn Leaves, and Beatrice as well as an original titled Silver Orcas which is about killer whales. Talking of killers, Erroll Garner's Misty contained one of the evening's many surprises - a David Gray vocal! The boy done good and it will be interesting to chart his progress in this direction.

Of course this wasn't a one man show. With the tried and tested talents of Stu, Paul and Abbie alongside him it was a very tight unit.

(Pic by Russell)

Debra Milne (vocals); Steve Summers (tenor sax); Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Sid White (drums).

Debra is a multi-faceted person. Singer, songwriter, bar person, Jazz Co-op director, you name it. Tonight, as well as pulling pints she delivered a delightful set of the tried and tested. Perdido; Corcovado, the bop anthem Well You Needn't which had some Monkish piano from Stu and Steve Summers in the role of Charlie Rouse and, to finish, Let There be Love. There was indeed a lot of love in the room tonight for birthday boy Dave Weisser as Debra remembered  the CD compilations that Dave meticulously put together as raffle prizes at the Wednesday night workshops he has hosted at various venues over the years.

(Pic by Russell)

Kenny Kirsopp (alto/tenor sax); John Wilson (guitar); Jude Murphy (bass/vocal); Maddog Davis (drums) + Dave Weisser (vocal).

This was a blast and a half! How could it not be with Kenny Kirsopp (aka Kenny the Sax), John Wilson (aka The General), Maddog Davis (aka Michael) and Jude Murphy (aka Ms Wonderful)?

(Pic by Russell)

They stomped off in a bebop vein - was it Scrapple From the Apple? - blistering tenor, immaculate guitar, sound bass and drums. The heat intensified with The Chicken (or was it Cantaloupe Island? I always confuse the two!). Mercy, Mercy, Mercy not only had KK sticking both horns in his gob à la Roland Kirk but also a vocal by the birthday boy himself that brought the house down.

The set finished with Cissy Strut with some super scatting by Jude who, during the course of the evening also played flute and put the whole shebang together - nice one.

(Pic by Jude on F/b)

Mo Scott (vocals); Stu Collingwood (piano); Neil Harland (bass guitar); Tom Atkinson (drums).

Time to sing the blues and who better to do that than Mo Scott? Kicking it off with T-Bone Shuffle we were quickly transported from NE4 to the south side of Chicago as Mo made like T-Bone Walker. Never Make Your Move too Soon, God Bless the Child, Yellow Moon never sounded better and a Sonny Boy Williams number had Jude and Rachel Richman  tripping the light fantastic. If there had been more space I think the whole room would have have been shaking it about. Tom Atkinson stepped in on drums at the last minute and, along with Stu and Neil, gave Mo the perfect backing

Sadly, I missed the final set as the number 27 beckoned and, equally sadly, I missed most of the first set by the Railway St. (Wednesday night) Regulars due to transport hiccups. Nevertheless, I was delighted with what I heard and it was a fitting tribute to Dave who, upon reflection, I've probably known longer than most people in the room - Lance