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| (© Jeff Pritchard) |
Every time Munch plays this venue, if you want to get a good seat you'd better arrive early because he always attracts a sizeable crowd of followers young and old. What is the reason for his popularity I ask myself? It could be the fact that he is good at connecting with his audience and is also great at picking an interesting selection of numbers like he did tonight. His regular drummer Dave Hassell couldn’t make it and in his place was Brian Costello who I recall hearing on a couple of gigs I attended but those were many moons ago. He impressed me with his forceful work on both sticks and brushes and worked well with his rhythm section colleague Dave Lynane who was his usual rock-solid self.
A musician I have heard of but know very little about, sat in on Midnight Voyage a Mike Brecker number and then got called back to join Munch for a short workout on Ray Noble’s Cherokee. His name was Steve Childs and during a brief chat he mentioned that his main horn, a Selmer Mark 6 was in the repair shop and he was using another horn of East German origin but it sounded good to me.
Sometimes Munch leaves the flute on its stand but this time it was given an extensive outing on Chick Corea’s composition Armando’s Rhumba and Richard Wetherall who on this occasion was playing a Nord Green full-size electric keyboard got to demonstrate his sight reading skill and creative solo work. A great gig!
Next Railway jazz is on March 12 with Gair Carson and Paul Hartley. On Sunday March 17 it's the Freddie Garner Quartet. Mike Farmer
East of the Sun; Paul’s Pal; Have You Met Miss Jones?; Only Trust Your Heart; The Jamfs Are Coming; Airegin; Up Jumped Spring; Armando’s Rhumba; Windows; A Weaver of Dreams; Midnight Voyage; Cherokee.
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