Sunday night @ the Globe: Russ Morgan Quartet - July 7

© Ken Drew

Russ Morgan (drums); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (bass)

They came to bury Caesar and bury him they did - with rapturous applause. Had this been Ancient Rome he would have entered encased  in a purple robe, carrying an ivory encrusted sceptre and wearing a laurel crown. However, as this was present day Newcastle he would have made his way along Railway Street, carrying a matching pair of finest hickory drumsticks, to the city's equivalent of London's Frith Street where he would be presented with the highest of  'the toon's' civic awards - a virtual number 9 shirt.

Yes, Russ Morgan was back.

Morgan had been off the scene for several years but now he was back with an unbeatable team ready to take on the world.

An out of town try-out at Blaydon Jazz Club in April (see HERE) served to whet the appetite for those who wanted more as well as those who hadn't been able to make the trip way out west. The packed room wasn't disappointed.

© Ken Drew

Metheny's John McKie kick-started the set: drum intro, snippets from guitar and tenor before the solos were unleashed. Like boxers in the first round they were feeling each other out, assessing the audience, wracking up the points.

I didn't catch the name of the next piece, It was a composition by one of Russ's old sparring partners bassist, cum clergyman, Reverend Andrew Brown. More impressive solos. John Scofield's Don't Shoot the Messenger came as close to a piece of swing as we were going to get.

Then came the the killer punch to end the round, sorry I meant 'the set'. Kenny Garrett's Wayne's Thang saw any inhibitions dispensed with. Mark Williams led the charge - he was, even by his standards, phenomenal! Not to be outdone, young Keeble defied his relatively tender years with a kickass solo that had the rafters ringing followed by the still undefeated champion, Andy Champion, drawing the crowd's approval with a showboating solo before the bossman himself took the spotlight and the number ended with a a few false endings that had the audience, after being caught out a couple of times, unsure when to applaud.

I was breathless!

The second set began with a couple of Jim Hall numbers: Frisell Frazzle and Grand Slam the latter being a very clever arrangement with lots of subtleties However, the next explosion was John Abercrombie's Jumpin' In. This was WWIII set to music. It deceivingly began with a gentle, almost danceable, swing that mellowed into a probing, dreamy mystical mood before the tension gradually built, the volume increased and the room ignited like a four-alarm fire. Four different voices moving in four different directions and yet, miraculously finding unity out of disunity. My heart was beating faster than the bass, louder than the drums, tighter than a guitar string, higher than the harmonics from the tenor - is there a defibrillator in the house? And then, suddenly, all was calm, it had been a safe landing.

Julian Nicholas' 1000 Ships, a groovy romp on Marc Johnson's Union Pacific and, finally, Shorter's Yes or No brought an amazing gig to a close.

Simply the best and thank you Jazz North East and the Globe for making it possible. Lance