Due to the line up change which originally showed guitarist Paul Hartley as bandleader, we had Richard Weatherall and Jeff Guntren selecting the tunes starting with the seldom played I Hear A Rhapsody, a 1941 pop song composed by George Tagos, Jack Baker and Dick Gasparre. It was featured in the 1952 film Clash By Night and sung by Tony Martin.
The second number was from Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite - Isfahan - which, as Richard explained, was a feature for Johnny Hodges on the iconic recording. When I was sixteen I bought an alto sax and Hodges was a big influence on me until Charlie Parker came along and changed everything.
Jeff continued by going into an energetic workout on Wayne Shorter’s JuJu which is a tune that made me think about the great legacy of interesting tunes that Shorter wrote. Guntren likes to alter his tone and vary the volume during some of his solos which leads me to think he may have listened to Pharoah Sanders at length.
I was a bit surprised that the audience was smaller that expected but that may have been due to the sunny weather or maybe some of them had decided to go on holiday while the cheap deals are still available.
After blowing through the blues on a spirited version of Ornette’s Turnaround the second set commenced with one of my favourite Monk tunes Let’s Cool One which I first heard of on Clark Terry’s In Orbit album. Guntren really stretched out on this number with Weatherall matching his intensity and the rhythm section at the top of their game.
Next came an up tempo Kenny Barron tune the popular Voyage which I thought was as good as any version I’ve heard before at the Railway. Drummer Dave Walsh sounded excellent on all the tunes and for the finale we heard another great number from the prolific pen of Wayne Shorter, Footprints which showcased the versatile basswork of Ken Marley a regular performer here at the Railway.
The next jazz night at the Railway is on June 18 with the Dean Masser Quartet 9:00-11:00pm. Mike Farmer
I Hear A Rhapsody; Ishafan; JuJu; Turnaround; Let’s Cool One; Voyage; Footprints.
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