Munch Manship (tenor sax/flute/piccolo); Richard Wetherall (piano); Grant Russell (bass); Eryl Roberts (drums).
(© Jeff Pritchard)
Munch has been a fixture on the Manchester jazz scene for as long as I can remember which is a pretty long time but he shows no sign of slowing down - I’m glad to say!
He opened up the concert to an almost full house going straight into a fast hard bop version of that great Clifford Brown composition Joy Spring. The second tune also had the word Spring in the title which was Freddie Hubbard’s Up Jumped Spring that was done in ¾ time as the composer intended. It has just occurred to me that it might be fun to play a whole evening of tunes with a Spring theme - there are plenty to choose from!
Richard Wetherall made his presence felt on the house piano with some excellent solo work and Grant Russell who was here on Aug. 7, fronting his own quartet, made his second appearance of the month. When he takes a solo he really gives his all!
Eryl Roberts has played here on countless occasions and he knows what to do in most situations but I can’t recall the last time he backed Munch at this venue.
One tune that was played which I always think is best when there are two horns involved was Golson’s Along Came Betty and if you’ve ever seen Benny Golson playing this theme alongside his Jazztet colleague trombonist Curtis Fuller you will know what I’m talking about.
One surprising thing that happened during the second set was the final number which I thought would be a tear up tenor sax workout of something like Cherokee but was, instead, Tico-Tico a lively Latin tune which Munch played on piccolo! This however, went down very well with the audience including a couple who, in spite of the hot temperature, could not resist the urge to take to the floor!
And so another exciting night at the Railway concluded and the next gig is on Tuesday Aug 16 with another sax man Liam Byrne and his quartet. Mike Farmer
Joy Spring; Up Jumped Spring; We’ll be Together Again; Billie’s Bounce; Samba de Orpheus; Jordu; Have You Met Miss Jones?;Windows; Along Came Betty; Tico Tico.
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