Ivo Neame in a brewery: Newcastle Jazz Festival (day three) - August 20

(© Pam)

Ivo Neame Quartet: Ivo Neame (keyboards); George Crowley (tenor sax); Tom Farmer (double bass); James Maddren (drums)

Pianist Ivo Neame arrived in town as the headline act on day three of the 2022 Newcastle Jazz Festival. Throughout the afternoon the Tyne Bank Brewery was all but 'all seats taken'. Packed lunches and an in house menu fed the throng and, of course, this being the home of the Tyne Bank Brewery it was a case of a 'jazz-up in a brewery'.* Professor of Jazz Piano at the Guildhall, Neame (Phronesis, Marius Neset) presented his regular quartet: George Crowley (tenor sax), bassist Tom Farmer (most adaptable is Farmer, gigging with Joe Webb one day, Neame the next) and drummer James Maddren.

Neame's set comprised material old, lockdown-era and new. The Rise of the Lizard People from Glimpses of Truth (2020), Laika, one of the cuts from Moksha (2017) and numbers which will feature on a forthcoming album (Neame's quartet will be in the studio on Tuesday and Wednesday) met with a great reception from an on-side festival crowd. Neame and Crowley the principal soloists, bassist Farmer shone throughout and drummer Maddren couldn't help but be his restless, creative self. The quartet took a collective bow to sustained applause. Day three done, day four at this year's NJF would soon be dawning. 

* Ivo Neame is of the Shepherd Neame brewing dynasty. Russell