Newcastle Jazz Festival: Day Four - August 19

Ruth Lambert Duo

Ruth Lambert (vocals); Martin Craggs (guitar)

(© Russell)

Ruth was in good voice (when is she not?) and she delivered a choice selection of goodies ably supported by Martin on a nylon-strung, semi-acoustic cutaway guitar. He gets a great sound with some lovely chord voicings that don't grow on the pages of your Bert Weedon tutor.

Apart from her voice and her very personalised phrasing, Ruth can also turn a song into theatre with her facial expression or a hint of body language. This was particularly noticeable in Social Call and Black Coffee. A great start.

How Deep is the Ocean?; But Beautiful; I've Got the World on a String; Here's That Rainy Day; Social Call; Black Coffee; Desifinado; Lush Life; Like Someone in Love.

Giles Strong Quartet

Giles Strong (guitar); Pete Tanton (trumpet/flugel); Ian Paterson (bass); John Bradford (drums)

This was turning out to be an afternoon for guitar enthusiasts. Even the one band that didn't have a guitarist on board (JazzMain) had a bass guitarist. Giles Strong doesn't surround himself with pedal boards and what have you, just tasteful playing. It's delicate and delightful and, combined with the cool sound of Pete on trumpet and flugel, offers a contrast to a lot of what passes as jazz these days.

With Ian Paterson on bass (his Slowlight Quartet are on stage here tomorrow which, by the time I finish this post will be today!) and the ubiquitous John Bradford on drums, using mainly brushes, it was a set to savour.

Billy's Blues; Walk to Wall; Coco in Paris; Brother T; Alone Together; You'll be There, I'll be Here; Mubo.

JazzMain

Nick Gould (tenor sax); Steve Grossart (keys); Iain Harkness (bass guitar); Kevin Dorrian (drums)

Things moved up a gear when JazzMain, down from Edinburgh took to the stage. A couple of days ago I reviewed their new CD Blue Note Nights HERE and much of the material was drawn from that album which is wholeheartedly recommended. Gould has long been a devotee of Dexter Gordon and he's within touching distance of the late great American tenor player.

His henchmen (should that be henchpersons?) are solid performers in their own right with Harkness a tower of strength on 5-string bass guitar, Grossart producing some great solos and Dorrian kicking it along. As a friend said afterwards, 'That's my kind of jazz' - nobody argued.

You Stepped Out of a Dream; For Minors Only; You Don't Know What Love is; Jeannine; Have You Met Miss Jones?; Liberated Brother.

Dean Stockdale Quartet

Dean Stockdale (keys); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (bass); Max Popp (drums)

(© Russell)

Dean played an Oscar Peterson set that, as it has done so many times, displayed his love for and his affinity with the work of possibly the greatest jazz pianist ever.

Just as Joe Pass and/or Herb Ellis added an extra dimension to Oscar's playing so did Tim Williams to Dean's. Barras and Popp proved to be the perfect replacements for NHOP and Martin Drew. All four were superb, it couldn't get any better than this - or could it...?

Blues Etude; Falling in Love With Love; Bossa Beguine; Have You Met Miss Jones? Noreen's Nocturne; Night Train; Hymn to Freedom.

Nigel Price Organ Trio

Nigel Price (guitar); Jim Watson (organ); Joel Barford (drums)

(© Russell)

Ross Stanley was originally advertised as being on organ but, by the end of the set folks were saying, 'Ross who?' I lie, they weren't saying that but they might have been thinking it! Watson was nothing less than tremendous - small wonder that his CV is only slightly shorter than the Encyclopedia Britannica.

If you thought the drummers that had gone before were good - and they were - then Joel Barford was in the next tier up. He was absolutely tremendous. His technique was perhaps somewhat different but genius makes its own rules. Once the greyhound, now he's the hare.

Needless to say, you can't put a band like this without being able to deliver the goods yourself and Nigel did just that. Are there three better jazz musicians than these three on their respective instruments? If there are I wanna know.

Of course, days like this don't come without a price - no pun intended - and, by this time I was flagging and I had to forego Swannek - my apologies.

Still, tomorrow's another day. World Cup football in the morning then back to the NJF.

Well, somebody's got to do it. Lance (More photos to follow)

Wet and Dry; Stealing Time; Hey Shirley; It's Not Alright With me; Movin' Along; Road Song

PS: The day didn't go well for one couple, thanks to the Quaylink bus people. The bus stop outside of the Theatre Royal had a 'NOT IN USE' sign and directed  would be travellers to another bus stop around the corner on Market St. However, further enquiries revealed that the original bus stop WAS IN USE so myself and the couple retraced our steps back to the original stop just in time to catch the Q3.

The couples' troubles were far from over. When they asked the driver to drop them off at the Tyne Bank Brewery he dropped them off somewhere in the proximity of the Tyne Bar which is probably a country mile away from their preferred destination. As of yet they have not been sighted.

This was a shame and indeed not a very good advert for public transport as it caused them to miss a cracking afternoon/early evening session of top notch jazz. I hope they complained to the bus company.