Joe Steels' Borealis @ the Gala Theatre, Durham - June 21

Joe Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (bass); John Hirst (drums).

On the solstice when the sun was cracking the pavements of old Durham Town it seemed to me that the only thing that any right-thinking Englishman should do at lunchtime was to find the darkest room in the city and listen to some 'Jazz On  a Summer’s Day'. I would guess that somewhere between 80 and a 100 others had the same idea.

Borealis is a local band that plays leader Joe Steels' compositions which were inspired by the local area, family walks, a bit of history and a tribute to Lady Day. There’s nothing here to scare the horses with lots of gentle chordal work on the guitar and brushes on the drums; mostly fairly laid back with plenty of mellow grooves, some borrowed from funk, soul and rock. However, that often set the scene for some piercing trumpet work from Kilsby and some heavier, intricate soloing by Steels himself; Susans too, showed what a fine player he is in his solos during Lady Day, The Wait and his introduction to These Are the Days.

The varying tempos (tempi) seem to cover all times of the day; The Wait is an early evening stroll, Re-emerge is a lullaby whilst Lady Day is for the wee small hours. The musicianship is consistently high with Steels and Kilsby to the fore; Hirst lets loose in occasional slices of fury and Lawrence (last seen in Rothbury with the Sue Ferris Quintet)  adds colour to much of the programme with the quality of his soloing.

Well worth the trip to Durham. Dave Sayer