Because of the shape of the building the Central Bar is known locally as 'The Coffin' so it seemed an appropriate venue for the exhumation of guitarist Wes Montgomery or, at least music associated with and recorded by him
You could tell before a note was played who the featured guest was. Joe Steels, in a powder blue jacket, snazzy shirt and tailored jeans stood out in the sartorial stakes. By comparision, the house trio were, shall we say?, casual chic(ish).
Another clue of course was that this being a celebration of Wes Montgomery's centennial they weren't going to book a banjo player.
Full Stop was, understandably seeing as it was their opening number and I doubt if there'd been much, if anything in the way of rehearsal, not quite as tight as I'd hoped. It still sounded good and it got gooder (sorry, even better) as they moved on to another Montgomery classic - Stablemates. The Adrenalin was kicking in and four individuals were becoming one.
Cariba, I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face, Four on Six and Sandu brought us up to the break.
Thirsts quenched, there was nothing in the second set to dampen my enthusiasm. That happened later thanks to the vagaries of the weather and the reliability of the bus timetable which is more fictitious than a novel by J.K. Rowling.
Still, the monsoon was but a few raindrops compared to hearing these four fine musicians playing Airegin, El Libro (?), Fried Pies, 'Round Midnight, Jingles and Gone With the Wind. For my money (a fiver) Jingles, despite the now seemingly obligatory fours, was the stand out number although the exquisite I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face certainly ran it close.
Next session is on April 10 when Pete Tanton (trumpet) and Steve Summers (tenor sax) along with the trio exhume Hank Mobley's classic Blue Note album Dippin'. This is one of my favourites so I won't need to do my homework. Lance
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