Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club - Jan. 3

Jim McBriarty (alto/soprano sax, clarinet, vocals); Alan Marshall (tenor sax, clarinet); David Gray (trombone, vocals); Jeremy McMurray (piano); Alan Rudd (bass); Ian Stocks (drums); Olive Rudd (vocals)

Hell and high water, not to mention Metro disruptions and the threat of snow on the  horizon didn't stop Classic Swing's fanbase turning out for the first Friday session of 2025. The traumatic journey home was but a minor blip in a very enjoyable afternoon.*

Kicking off as per with their signature tune, Tommy Moran's eponymously titled Classic Swing, it soon became evident the band were 'up for it' with cutting solos all round.

Album review: Terry Waldo & the Gotham City Band - Treasury: Volume 1 (Turtle Bay Records)

Terry Waldo (piano); Mike Davis (trumpet/cornet); Ricky Alexander (clarinet, soprano sax); Jay Lepley (drums); Colin Hancock (cornet, tenor sax); Jim Fryer, Sam Chess (trombone); Jerron Paxton (banjo, vocals); Nick Russo, Arnt Arntzen (banjo); Evan Arntzen, Dennis Lichtman (clarinet); Jay Rattman (bass sax); Brian Nalepka (bass); Tatiana Eva-Marie, Veronica Swift (vocal). (Collective)

Slick, modern Dixieland reminiscent of the old Rampart Street Paraders, Bob Scobey's Frisco Jazz Band or, more recently, Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, featuring various combinations based around leader/pianist Waldo, Davis, reedman Alexander and drummer Lepley.

It's a fun album with spiky solos from the horns, some of whom are not unknown to those hardy souls who make their annual pilgrimage to Whitley Bay for the Classic Jazz Party, as well as  some feetwarming examples of Waldo's mastery of earlier jazz piano styles.

Album review: Edison Herbert - All I Need

Edison Herbert (guitar); Neville Malcolm (bass); Winston Clifford (drums); Sean Hargreaves (piano - tracks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) + guests Cherisse Scott (vocals - track 4); Kim Cypher (tenor sax - track 5); Kevin Robinson (flugelhorn - track 9); Ben Gilbert (piano - tracks 1, 2, 5, 8); Chris Wells (drums - tracks 4, 5); Graham Maynard (piano - track 7)

All I Need comprises nine tracks, six of them written by Edison Herbert. The title track typifies guitarist Herbert's approach - bright and breezy, his sound bubbling over with glass half full optimism. Bassist Neville Malcolm and drummer Winston Clifford are established names and Herbert's guest contributors include Kim Cypher (tenor sax) and, formerly of the BSH parish, pianist Ben Gilbert.

Rossano Sportiello: Live at the Flat in Greenwich Village (#122) - a NYE livestream

Rossano Sportiello's weekly lockdown livestream from his flat in Greenwich Village proved to be one of the few plus points of Covid times. As things began to return to something like normal (whatever 'normal' is), Sportiello, in common with musicians across the globe, took to the road to play to a real, live - as opposed to a livestream - audience. However, old habits die hard and Italian born, NYC resident pianist Sportiello has, whenever possible, continued to present livestreams. 

Album review: Greg Abate - Road to Forever (Whaling City Sound)

Greg Abate (soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, flute); Tim Ray (piano, electric piano); John Lockwood (acoustic bass, electric bass); Mark Walker (drums, percussion)

One gets the impression Greg Abate is permanently on the road. 250+ dates a year takes the man from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, coast to coast USA, not to mention annual trips (July and November) to the UK. Perhaps the album title of this 2017 release - Road to Forever - is Abate's tacit acknowledgment of his globetrotting existence (in pursuit of music-making). Take the Crowell Train, a contrafact of Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise, is dedicated to California based, fellow musician Ken Crowell. And then there's Mr. Parker, without question referencing the pioneering bebop alto saxophonist, Charlie 'Yardbird' Parker, indeed it's a contrafact of Confirmation. 

Album review: Xhosa Cole - On a Modern Genius Vol. 1 (Stoney Lane Records)

Xhosa Cole (tenor sax); Liberty Styles (tap dancing); Steve Saunders (guitar); Josh Vadiveloo (bass); Nathan England-Jones (drums) + Heidi Vogel (vocal on Come Sunday)

Tap dancing on record isn't new. The first time I heard it was on a Doris Day recording of Crazy Rhythm. Doris did the singing and Gene Nelson did the dancing. Norman Granz also recorded Fred Astaire dancing to the JATP class of '52 and, of course, Ellington featured Bunny Briggs hoofing on David Danced Before the Lord on one of Duke's Sacred Concert recordings. That composition is actually an uptempo version of Come Sunday so with On a Modern Genius Vol. 1 we've come full circle.