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| © Ken Drew |
Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Colin Steele (trumpet); Dave Newton (piano); Andy Cleyndert (double bass); Clark Tracey
The closing concert in Newcastle Jazz Co-op's '10 Years a Co-op' festival featured an all-star quintet led by the one-and-only Clark Tracey. The Globe considers Clark a friend and this return visit drew a capacity audience. And little wonder...the Globe's ten year anniversary (on International Jazz Day), speeches by local bigwigs, a free buffet and, of course, Clark's band. And what a band!
Other than bandleader Clark, the quintet didn't include any of the musicians originally scheduled to appear. Any initial disappointment at their absence was instantly dispelled with a rip-roaring take on the opener, Rainbow at the Five Mile Road. The depping frontline horns tore it up. As deps go, Nadim Teimoori and Colin Steele were more than acceptable! BSH first heard tenor saxophonist Teimoori at the Wigan International Jazz Festival. On that occasion, Teimoori sat in the reeds of the powerhouse Louis Dowdeswell Big Band. This evening's small group setting offered Teimoori the chance to show what he could really do. Let's say he didn't spurn the opportunity!
Standing to Teimoori's right, the great powerhouse trumpeter Colin Steele. The Scot clearly relished the opportunity to 'have a blow'. Shooting for the stars, Steele went further than Jupiter or Mars, at times taking it to the edge of a faraway galaxy. Thelonious Monk featured - Ask Me Now in the first set, Well, You Needn't in the second - and the depping pianist, the great Dave Newton put his own stamp on Monk's compositions. Great stuff.
Andy Cleyndert, for many years Stan Tracey's bassist of choice, is what you could call a 'proper' bass player. Imagine you're a musician on the stand and mid-tune you momentarily lose your way. If Cleyndert was on the gig he'd keep you right. Absolutely top class. And there's Clark himself. A multi-award winning musician, the connection with Stan Tracey all too obvious. From time to time Clark referred to 'Stan', putting the numbers into context, for example, the evening's set closer, Cuddly from Stan's octet album The Bracknell Connection, but make no mistake, Clark is his own man. Quite simply, he's a class act. It had been a fantastic evening, put this one down as an 'I was there there' occasion.
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| © Ken Drew) |
The Globe's first ten years have been chronicled here (BSH), there and everywhere. There have been ups (innumerable memorable gigs) and downs (the pandemic times), if the next decade is as eventful - and successful - we're in for a grand old time. Russell
Set list: Rainbow at the Five Mile Road; ?; Ask Me Now; Remind Me; A Bitta Dose; Blue Monk; Well, You Needn't; I'm Through with Love; Funky Day in Tiger Bay; St Thomas; Cuddly.
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