Ben Crosland Quartet @ the Railway, Stockport - March 12

Ben Crosland (bass guitar); Dean Stockdale (keys); Rod Mason (tenor/sop sax); Dave Tyas (drums).

Once again the information on the March flyer was incorrect  listing this band as a trio when there were four musicians involved. I was pleased to see that Rod Mason was in the lineup as he has not played this venue for a while. He was using tenor sax and a curved soprano for this gig although I noticed he had also brought along an alto but I don’t think it was utilised. Rod likes to play sitting down these days but this does not impede his high energy approach and his solos tonight were well received by the Sunday night audience.

This was the first time I have heard Ben Crosland although he appeared here last year but I think I was on holiday at the time.  He started things off tonight with a Wayne Shorter tune One By One and I thought this was a fitting tribute to one of the greatest tenor players and composers that the jazz world has known. For the second tune Ben explained that he was a big fan of pop singer Ray Davies who lead a group called the Kinks and one of their biggest hits was Waterloo Sunset.  This set the tone for the rest of the concert which contained more Kinks numbers plus some Crosland originals such as Solway Story, a feature for Rod Mason on soprano, and Blues for Jeff  being a tribute to the late bass player Jeff Clyne.

Taking care of things in the drum department was Dave Tyas who is well known in this area from his work in big bands such as Shades of Kenton and SK2. Dean Stockdale did a great job on his Roland keyboard and produced a nice Hammond organ sound on the Kinks You Really Got Me.  One number that I liked a lot was Bob Mintzer’s Mr Fonebone which was the final tune bringing to a close another satisfying night of modern jazz at the Railway.

The next jazz night at the Railway is on Tuesday March 14 with the Paul Hartley Quartet featuring Gair Carson,

 

One by One; Waterloo Sunset; Sunshine and Showers Three Views of a Secret; Solway Story; You Really Got Me; Crossborder Blues; Sunny Afternoon; All Day and All of the Night; Blues for Jeff; Cost of Living; Mr Fonebone.