For
the last few years Jazz on a Monday has
been a weekly fixture at the Penrhyn Arms. An award winning real ale and real
cider pub, Neil Yates curates the jazz evenings presenting, on alternate Mondays,
modern or trad jazz. Both sessions feature top class musicians. My penchant is more for
the modern jazz but the trad jazz is very popular with those who prefer that
genre.
Neil Yates is one of the UK’s top trumpet players and composers attracting many of the heavyweights of the UK jazz scene and beyond to Llandudno Jazz Club including Soweto Kinch, David Lyttle and Tori Freestone to name a few. On a regular basis top jazz musicians from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and elsewhere travel from near and far to play here. This concert was no exception with Johnny Hunter from Manchester, Andor Jenson from Liverpool, Steve Berry from Blackburn and Sam Dunn from Dover. It is a privilege to attend these concerts and to enjoy musicians of this calibre.
The
concert was split into two sets and the full set list is below. I have seen
Neil, Johnny and Andor play multiple times at Llandudno and elsewhere. I therefore
enjoyed seeing Steve Berry and Sam Dunn play for the first time. They are both
very experienced musicians. Steve, in addition to playing the double bass is a
composer and educator. Sam is equally compelling playing ballads and burners
and clearly enjoyed playing in the quintet.
The
set list provided the musicians with ample solo opportunities and considering that previously they had neither played nor
rehearsed together as a group, I was impressed by how cohesive and complimentary
they were to each other.
Andor was equally comfortable on tenor and curved soprano sax. Neil’s soaring solos were a highlight for me and the rhythm section of Johnny and Steve excelled. The group was equally comfortable playing the ballad Easy Living (with a nod to Clifford Brown) and the classic 1966 bossa nova, Antônio Carlos Jobim's Triste. Another favourite of mine was Miles Davis’ 1954 classic Four in which Neil again excelled. Neil’s very talented young daughter Fafi displayed her considerable vocal talents to Bye, Bye, Blackbird to the great appreciation of the crowded room.
If you are in North Wales on a Monday evening and enjoy jazz please come on down to the Penrhyn Arms where you will receive a warm welcome and wont be disappointed. Richard Morris
Set list: You
and the Night and the Music; September in the Rain; Nica’s Dream; Sandu; You’re
my Everything; What is This Thing Called Love? Bye, Bye, Blackbird; Four; Easy
Living; Triste
Llandudno Jazz Club, Penrhyn
Arms, Pendre Road, Penrhynside, Llandudno LL30 3BY.
Mondays @ 8:00pm. £10 cash entry fee pp, no
booking required but recommended if dining.
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