Lewis Watson (tenor sax); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums)
A first jazz concert at Wylam Institute. Would anyone turn up? Train from Newcastle Central, one stop after Blaydon* on the Tyne Valley line, a short walk up Main Road, turning right and there's the Institute. Opening the door, there stood Lewis Watson. Have you got an audience? your scribe enquired. Yeah, replied the main man.
A typical village hall set up, cabaret table layout, a bottle bar, a relaxed air about the place. As the seven thirty start approached, how about this? More table and chairs were required! By the down beat the hall was standing room only. Jazz in Wylam, as of this evening, it's all the craze.
Of late, Lewis Watson's set list has taken on a familiar shape, opening with Yes or No and, some two hours later, closing with Prayer to Be. Brilliant modern jazz tenor saxophone playing, few, if any, can hold a candle. Working alongside our bandleader, mercurial guitarist Mark Williams, bass supremo Andy Champion and drummer for this and many other occasions, John Bradford. Yes or No blazed a trail, a veritable scorcher. A mix of originals and classic numbers (The Promise and a truly marvellous reading of Nancy with the Laughing Face), if you're a 'modern jazz' nut, the Lewis Watson Quartet is the band you've just got to hear.
* Blaydon Jazz Club, Mon. 21 Oct, the Black Bull on Bridge Street, 8:00pm start for the visit of Dutch tenor saxophonist Gideon Tazelaar. A tenner at the door.
Set list: Yes or No; Times Past; The Promise; Nancy with the Laughing Face; Song for Keith; Out of Step; Hand in Hand; Earth; Sonny's Disposition; Prayer to Be.
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