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| (© Ken Drew) |
The Toon on a Friday night, even in midwinter, is a fairly volatile place. One has to brave the gauntlet of traffic jams of both the human and motor variety when venturing into the city centre. However, amongst this maelstrom of frantic activity the Lit and Phil stands out as an oasis of peace and tranquillity and on Friday night a free jazz super group graced its unique ambience.
A capacity crowd filled the venue with great anticipation and, judging by the tremendous reception the band received at every opportunity, they were not disappointed. Led by Noble's brilliant drumming the quartet soon got into their stride. Edwards attacked the bass with the passion of an elite rugby forward (as it happened the bass was borrowed from Andy Champion who seemed quite relaxed about the hammering his instrument was taking).
Dikeman hooted , tooted , shrieked and whooped on the tenor. Meanwhile, Pat Thomas, a frequent and welcome visitor to Tyneside, was his normal, creative and innovative self. As individuals everyone shone but it was as a collective when the band really came to the fore. It was a wonder how seamless the music was you just couldn’t see the joins. The components seemed to be completely in sync with each other, driving, powerful, passages morphed into gentler, more subtle, ones and back again. Every so often there was even a touch of humour added. The whole dynamic was exhilarating and everyone seemed totally captivated by the fabulous four.
An uplifting life affirming evening that raised everyone’s spirit on a cold and busy Newcastle night. Steve H
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