Jan Spencelayh (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Abbie Finn (drums).
These monthly Summer jazz gigs at Fenham are always a delight but more so when the sun is shining and they take place in the pretty church garden. Unfortunately, today was not one of those days and the audience had to content themselves with being indoors, albeit inside a beautiful church.
Alan Law, Paul Grainger and Abbie Finn need no introduction to readers of this blog being first call musicians in demand both near and afar, each playing regularly in the area with various jazz ensembles. Ms Spencelayh however, by her own admission, is relatively new to both the area and the genre although she is a regular guest with both Mick Donnelly’s Musicians Unlimited (Hartlepool’s own big band) and Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Orchestra in Stockton, although to my knowledge this was the first outing as a fully formed quartet.
I’m not sure if I can technically call this a jazz gig as the programme was nothing if not eclectic. While there were the jazz standards like Angel Eyes and My Baby Just Cares for Me, there were also blues and bossas and ballads ranging from Hound Dog (which allowed Paul Grainger to strut his stuff) to Every Breath You Take to Van Morrison’s Moondance which is becoming a “standard” at jazz gigs.
Ms Spencelayh handled it all with aplomb and the trio behind her showed why they are so often the first call.
Alan Law’s solo on Fine and Mellow could have lifted the church roof off and I glanced up at one of the stained glass windows behind the band to see a quote from Psalm 104.32 (trust me, I googled it) which said “He touches the hills and they smoked”…the band today certainly did just that to the delight of the largest audience I’ve seen yet at these Sunday sessions.
It was lovely to see families with children delighting in the music as well as the regular jazz fans. Hopefully for the September event the sun will shine and we will be back in the beautiful church gardens. Sylvia
Set list included: Fever; My Baby Just Cares for Me; Hound Dog; Angel Eyes; Moondance; Don’t Know Why; Fascinating Rhythm; Fine and Mellow; Every Breath You Take; At Last; I Put a Spell on You; Route 66.
1 comment :
Jan's quartet has been going for a few years now, it was the first time at the church though :)
Post a Comment