The Bold Big Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre - May 28

© Mike Tilley

Pippa Morgan, Max Storey, Crissi Booth, Lucy McCarten, Brian Wicks (saxes); Billy Bradshaw, Sam Armstrong, James Bateman, Andrew Marshall (trumpets); Alex Utting, Bertie Marks, Josh Scott, Kieran Parnaby (trombones); Ben Davies (guitar); Alex Ngeyu (keys); Joe Sharples (bass); Dan Arenstein (drums); Anna Heslop (vocals).

© Mike Tilley

Bold by name bold by nature the Bold Big Band took the A Train on the ride of its life. This wasn't the relatively sedate Ellington/Strayhorn opus but a chart by Don Sebesky. A wild dissonant arrangement closer to Kenton or Sun Ra than Billy Strayhorn. It would have made a great soundtrack for The Taking of Pelham 123. Utting and Armstrong the soloists.

Utting stayed in the driving seat alongside Crissi Booth on Dancing Men and Crissi had a solo feature on Metroliner.

5-5-7 saw Davies doing some shredding with Pippa impressive on soprano and MD Wicks playing baritone and sit-down comedian.

Anna Heslop, a new addition to the band, like most big band singers was gowned and gorgeous and, like most big band singers, struggled to be heard above the sheets of sound going on behind her. Perhaps if I'd been sitting closer to the front it would have been a better balance. Nevertheless, Let There be Love was a good arrangement with a few bars of Charlie Barnet's Skyliner thrown in by the band. The band won on Hallelujah I Love Her so but Anna came out on top with Come Fly With Me where the balance was much better revealing a pleasing voice.

The set finished with the Beatles' Blackbird with Billy Bradshaw growling like Cootie then taking it out with some screamers à la Cat.

A 15 minute interval gave me a chance to say 'hello' to Terry of the Red Kites - a band reviewed by one of our coastal correspondents at the Exchange in North Shields a while back.

The second set followed along the lines of the first. A skull busting opener, Parthenia, a drum solo, Patience, Bill Holman's arrangement of After You've Gone, a smooth Basie number, Count Me In, then more vocals from Anna.

© Mike Tilley

The balance was much improved or maybe my ears had unconsciously adapted themselves to the acoustical properties of the room but It Had to be You, Almost Like Being in Love and Still Alive showcased the singer more advantageously.  High Maintenance had a funky shuffle feel to it and the encore, the name of which I didn't catch although Terry 'the kite' remarked that it reminded him of Mission Impossible which, after Davies' guitar workout would have been an apt title for any budding Claptons in the audience.

A good gig. Two 45 minute sets and a short interval the perfect recipe. Catch them when next you can. Lance