The Central Bar Quartet plays Wayne Shorter's JuJu @ Central Bar, Gateshead - August 6

Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums) + Abbie Finn (drums)

Nice weather (at last!), Newcastle at home to Villarreal, Sunderland at home to Ipswich Town, it was odds on there would be a small turn out for August's Central Bar jazz session. How wrong can one be?! As the black 'n' whites headed to St James' Park and the red 'n' whites made their way to the Stadium of Light, dyed-in-the-wool jazz fans made a beeline to Half Moon Lane. 

Central Bar, first Sunday in the month, it's the Central Bar Quartet (occasionally Central Bar Quintet) playing an iconic album. August's offering? Wayne Shorter's JuJu. The tenor player drafted in for the session? Harry Keeble. Shorter's 1965 Blue Note album featured Coltrane's heavyweight rhythm section. Here in Gateshead the onerous task of doing justice to the recording fell to Ben Lawrence (piano), Mick Shoulder (bass) and drummer John Bradford. 

The title track opened the session and, as one might expect, there was no reason to depart from the running order on the original recording. Ben Lawrence, over from Cumbria, put his own stamp on the McCoy Tyner sound, notably House of Jade. The ballad form Mahjong took it down a notch before a scorching take on Yes or No. Drummer - and the session's MC - John Bradford remarked that quite a few of the sessions have ended with a blues. This afternoon's set followed suit with Wayne Shorter's Twelve More Bars to Go. 

The audience showed its appreciation for the assured Harry Keeble and the Central Bar's ace rhythm section - Ben Lawrence, Mick Shoulder and John Bradford. Following an interval, a shorter (no pun intended) second set took us up to and beyond the scheduled four o'clock finish. An unusual, bossa-like, take on Giant Steps, Shorter's Miyako, Chick Corea's Windows, all broadly from the Blue Note/modernist's book. To close, John Bradford graciously stepped aside to enable Abbie Finn to join the boys on Witch Hunt. Russell     

First set: JuJu; Deluge; House of Jade; Mahjong; Yes or No; Twelve More Bars to Go 

Second set: Giant Steps; Miyako; Watermelon Man; Windows; Witch Hunt