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| (© Ken Drew) |
There may have been a better session at The Globe but I can't remember when. This JNE/Jazz Co-op was the absolute biz.
The music on its own, perfectly played. The words impeccably read. They could have stood alone and few would have complained. Together it was an unbeatable combination.
The two suites, both composed and arranged by Stan Tracey, driven along by his son on drums and narrated by his grandson added warmth to a cold, wet and windy night.
A Child's Christmas in Wales was new to me and although Under Milk Wood is still one of the all-time best-selling British jazz albums it had been a long time since I'd heard it so, in a sense this was both a voyage of discovery and rediscovery.
Ben Tracey's narration was word perfect portraying life as it was in "The Valleys" back then when life was simpler - or was it? I think anyone who lived in a small town or village could relate to the imagery portrayed by the greatest of the poets named Dylan.
As for the music it was simply out of this world. Allen, who blew alto on A Child's Christmas and tenor on Under Milk Wood , was the ideal saxist to have out front. Stating the themes with authority and soloing as if there was no tomorrow - they don't come any better - certainly not in Newcastle on a Saturday night or indeed anywhere on any night! James Owston depping for the advertised Andy Cleyndert was another star in an evening that was producing a minor galaxy of them.
Boardman was a new name to me but he'd successfully incorporated the Monkish, Dukish influences that typified so much of Stan Tracey's playing into his own to make the authenticity of the occasion almost complete.
Almost!
To round it off and make absolute completion Clark Tracey drove the band on displaying his own formidable technique without in any way losing the plot. His father would have been proud of him - we all were - come back soon. Lance
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