Conor Emery (trombone) + Olly Styles (alto sax, tenor sax); Dewi Chilton (trumpet); Liam Oliver (guitar); Emma Thomlinson (keyboards); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Abbie Finn (drums); Remi Coulthard-Boardman (vocals)
Over the last couple of years or so trombonist Conor Emery has been a welcome presence on the Tyneside jazz scene. Sitting in at jam sessions, sitting in the 'bones of various big bands and latterly fronting his own band, this evening the soon-to-graduate final year student kept an important appointment. At seven o'clock Conor took to the stage in the Music Studios at Newcastle University to present his Stage 3 Final Recital.
Conor was joined on stage by no fewer than seven friends - fellow students, recent graduates and drummer Abbie Finn. Our examinee's programme notes listed seven compositions, most of them from the jazz-funk canon. If stage craft counts for anything, Conor scored heavily: aware of his surroundings, adjusting a mic mid-tune, directing his bandmates as and when required.
The Force (Lettuce) to Trombone Shorty's For the Elders (...mixes the Afro-Cuban 12/8 groove, with a 4/4 swing feel.) to Maceo Parker's Up and Down East Street (Roots Revisited...is one of the most influential albums for a horn player.), the funk was to the fore. Conor writes: Throughout the recital you may hear some inspiration and callbacks to trombonists who inspire me, including Fred Wesley, Trombone Shorty and Al Grey.
Whatever he does next, Conor Emery is bound to make it in the music business, he's too good not to. Russell
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