Dean Stockdale (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums) + Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Lara Hopper (trumpet); Neil Hopper (double bass); Bailey Rudd (drums); John Rowland (tenor sax); Patrick ? (guitar); Jan Spencelayh (vocals); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Kate O'Niell (vocals); Ian Drever (vocals); Andrew Denison (guitar); Katrina Miller (vocals); Shadow ? (vocals); Cath Stephens (vocals)
Easter, the students away for awhile, Newcastle's match versus Everton but a goal kick away up at Gallowgate and the small matter of the start of major renovation works on the Tyne Bridge* (queues here, queues there), this evening's jam session was bound to be quiet. Arriving at the Black Swan fully fifty five minutes before the seven thirty down beat your correspondent assumed there couldn't possibly be a queue...
Wrong! A singer of some repute stood at the locked door, eager to descend the stairs to Newcastle Arts Centre's welcoming Black Swan venue. The punters began to arrive, what's going on? It's only a jam session, after all. As the doors opened shortly before seven, the queue made a collective dash for the best seats in the house. In next to no time the place was busy. What's going on? It's only a humble jam session.
This evening's house trio - the excellent Dean Stockdale, the redoubtable Paul Grainger and the fabulous Abbie Finn - played a few numbers, Oleo setting the standard. First to join the trio, tenor saxophonist Harry Keeble, more than maintaining the standard, indeed, setting an even higher bar. Of late, our amiable man from Hastings has been playing his metaphorical socks off.
The Hoppers were in the house - trumpeter Lara and string bassist Neil. If HK has been tearing it up of late (he has), how about young Lara? Fantastic! As for Neil, 'rock steady', that's for sure. One of the new kids on the block, Bailey Rudd, got behind the traps, joined by 'old school' tenor saxophonist John Rowland. A generation or two apart, jazz their common language. Excellent. At the age of twenty something, bassist Jamie Watkins is bordering on veteran status, similarly post grad guitarist Andrew Denison, good stuff, let's hear more.
The vocalists were massing - Jan Spencelayh (
The Nearness of You), Kate O'Niell (
Don't Explain), Ian Drever (
The Lady is a Tramp), Katrina Miller (
I'm in the Mood for Love), Shadow (
Black Coffee) and, somewhat late to the party, Cath Stephens. It was going on twenty past ten as MC Paul Grainger assembled the troops (for this evening known as
Lara Hopper's Rascals of Rhythm) for a super-charged
Caravan. The next Black Swan jam session is scheduled for Tuesday 16 April. 7:30pm. Arrive in good time, don't get caught out, make allowances for Tyne Bridge tailbacks.
* Work on Tyneside's iconic Tyne Bridge is scheduled to take, wait for it...four years! Russell
2 comments :
Shayo (Not Shadow) on vocals and Theo Noble on Drums
Apologies to Shayo, the spelling of your name noted, and apologies Theo for omitting your name entirely from the review.
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