Jazz @ the Lit and Phil: Cia Tomasso - April 19

(© Richard Morris)

Cia Tomasso (vocals); Jim McBriarty (tenor sax, clarinet); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (bass); John Bradford (drums)

The Tomasso name seems to have been ever present in the annuls of British jazz for as long as I can remember going back to when Ernie and Freddy Tomasso played clarinet and trumpet with Harry Gold and his Pieces of Eight in the late '40s/early '50s.

Ernie begat Enrico who has long been a well established trumpet/cornet player on the trad to mainstream circuit appearing regularly at the annual Whitley Bay Jazz Party.

The family legacy continued this afternoon at the Lit and Phil when Enrico's daughter Cia held the audience spellbound with her interpretation of songs associated with Billie Holiday and a couple of others - a star was being born before our very eyes!

(© Richard Morris)

Opening with Having Myself a Time, singer and band got into a comfortable groove. They'd only just met so any caution was understandable. Clarinet and piano soloed and we could feel it all coming together. 

I wasn't familiar with Says my Heart but, noting that the writers were Burton Lane and Frank Loesser I knew we wouldn't be dealt a lemon and we weren't. Again clarinet and piano had their say with a tasty bass solo to complement the clear tones of the singer. Cia doesn't try to sound like Billie - who could? Instead she sings herself. which is what great singers do.

Say it Isn't so didn't quite work for me. I got the impression the key was too low and some minor confusion reigned before, like all good jazzers, they got it together. 

(© Richard Morris)

We were back on an even keel with You Let me Down - something songwriters Harry Warren and Al Dubin never do and nor did this afternoon's musicians. McBriarty switched to tenor for this one and it was a rare delight to hear an unamplified tenor sax.

The tempo was upped for What a Little Moonlight Can do. The band and singer swinging like the original, maybe even more!

I'll Never be the Same. This was the one for me. Great ballad, beautifully sung and some nice period tenor from Jim. 

Jenny's Ball. Originally sung by Mamie Smith, it was a tricky arrangement but nobody stumbled - in fact they had a ball!

Love me or Leave me had a degree of uncertainty about it whereas the showstopping finale - Harlem on a Saturday Night was right on the money. Solos all round this could have been Newcastle on a Friday night. As it was, it was Newcastle on a Friday afternoon - an afternoon well-spent.

 The Tomasso name lives on. Lance