Abbie Finn Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre - July 13

Abbie Finn (drums); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Paul Grainger (double bass)

From the outside it resembled a building site. Actually, it is a building site! Inside it looked more like the familiar building we've come to know so well, Gosforth Civic Theatre. New flooring, level access throughout, an expanded bar area, a large skylight allowing the light to flood in, things they are a-changing on Regent Farm Road. It'll be sometime yet before the redevelopment works are finished, in the meantime, the events' programme is up and running. 

It was back in lockdown times when Abbie Finn was scheduled to perform here in Gosforth. Her gig, along with every other event, went down the Covid Swanee. It was, therefore, fitting that this evening the Abbie Finn Trio should have the honour of opening the new look venue. In the auditorium, the one noticeable difference was the absence of a stage. Somehow, the stage area looked larger than before the building closed for redevelopment. Bandleader Abbie's drum kit to one side, bassist Paul Grainger occupying the middle ground, and saxophonist Harry Keeble a distance away to the right. GCT's CEO welcomed the audience to the new-look venue before handing over to Abbie and co to begin a new chapter.  

Jazz the Cat (a Finn original) leapt off the first page, the sound clearly that of the Abbie Finn Trio. As a composer Finn is rapidly developing an identifiable sound. Hear an Abbie Finn number and it sounds at once familiar yet distinctly from the pen of A. Finn. Proud of her northern roots, the titles of several of Finn's compositions reference the region and its cultural history - Stotties for Three, North Sea Wind, On Pink Lane. Bassist Paul Grainger anchored the set, thus enabling Harry Keeble to apply a laser-like focus on the melody, soloing with great authority. Finn's original material sat comfortably in the set list alongside a selection of standards, notably Goodbye Pork Pie Hat and the set-closing Night and Day. Russell                            

Set list: Jazz the Cat; Stotties for Three; Goodbye Pork Pie Hat; Pirates Not Princesses; Purple Robe (working title); So It's True; North Sea Wind; On Pink Lane; Mirador de Los Poleos; Night and Day.