Dulcie May Moreno @ The Vault, Hexham - Feb. 17

Dulcie May Moreno (vocals); Mark Williams (guitar); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums)

Another full house. First Durham, then Newcastle and this evening in Hexham. The Vault is what you might call 'snug', some might say uncomfortably so. An ancient, stone built, former brewhouse standing on Hallgate, long before the down beat all advance purchase ticket holders had taken their seats. The Allendale Brewery's bottled beers are favourites along the Tyne Valley and a first bottle of Black Grouse duly arrived courtesy of the venue's efficient table service. 

You and the Night and the Music opened the first of two sets. The Schwartz/Dietz standard currently finds a place in Dulcie May Moreno's set and her 'Northern Jazz Cats' (Messrs Williams, Shoulder and Bradford) purred nicely. This evening's concert, the third of four northern tour dates, featured a couple of our vocalist's original songs. One of them, Take Me to New York, is proving particularly effective, a 'jazz' song her audience can relate to, either in their dreams or recalling personal memories of the Big Apple and its many jazz greats.

As an accompanist, guitarist Mark Williams is a singer's dream: timing, tone, volume, less is more, and more and more notes when the mood takes. Bassist Mick '
The Bishop' Shoulder* is similarly the supreme accompanist, great tone, as always. And then there's John Bradford. In the cramped confines of the Hallgate venue the requirement is to reign it in, finesse the order of the day. It seems to come naturally to drum master Bradford with sticks largely idle, brushes and mallets the tools of his trade this evening. 

Dave Frishberg's Peel Me a Grape made it into Ms Moreno's set list, the Tyne Valley audience delighting in it. Humility Blues gave Williams the opportunity to stretch out. Give a dog a bone, give a master guitarist a blues...superb! Ben Tucker's Comin' Home Baby (Mel Tormé made something of it) sent us on our way. The Vault's full house wanted more, Dulcie May Moreno suggested a sing-a-long. Your correspondent feared the worst. Carole King's You've Got a Friend didn't do too much damage. Dulcie concludes her mini tour on Monday lunchtime at Blyth's Yamaha Music School, one o'clock start.       

         

* 'The Bishop', ask Mick! Russell

Set list: You and the Night and the Music; The More I See You; Take Me to New York; Everybody Knows; Do it the Hard Way; Charade; My Shining Hour; Peel Me a Grape; (A Modest Woman's) Humility Blues; In the Mood for Love; Everybody Wants to be a Cat; Comin' Home Baby; You've Got a Friend.