House of the Black Gardenia @ Pilgrim, Newcastle - Mar. 29

Elise Rana Hopper (vocals, washboard); Pete Tanton (trumpet); David Gray (trombone); Keith Robinson (tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet); Katja Roberts (violin); Elliott Rush (piano); Michael Littlefield (guitar, banjo, vocals); Neil Hopper (string bass, sousaphone); Kit Haigh (drums)

Mazurka in Jazz is the long-awaited new album by Newcastle's House of the Black Gardenia. The band thought an album launch gig a good idea and many, many folk agreed. At four o'clock on Sunday afternoon Pilgrim (formerly Hoochie Coochie) opened its doors and within minutes the place was packed to the rafters. 

It isn't compulsory to dance at a House of the Black Gardenia gig but judging by the bodies on the dance floor it seemed like it! Your correspondent, perched on a high stool at a table, cast an eye across the room - beers and cocktails, cocktails and beers, dancers and more dancers. The scene was set.

The term 'viper jazz' best sums up what HotBG are about and where they're coming from. A century or so ago, a subculture supported an 'alternative lifestyle'. Booze (elicit or not), elicit substances, intimate practices, all coalescing to form a 'scene'. Dressed to the nines, HotBG hit the stage. First up, Queen Witch (the opening track on Mazurka in Jazz) had 'em up dancing. The die was cast. 

Bandleader Neil Hopper (string bass and sousaphone) led the nonet, flanked by the brilliant Michael Littlefield (guitar, banjo, vocals - what a voice!) and drummer Kit Haigh. The horns - Pete Tanton (trumpet), David Gray (trombone, dance moves), right-on-the-money Keith Robinson (reeds) - were having a ball, alongside Elliott Rush, tucked away at the back, playing anything but a vintage upright. 

Mazurka in Jazz would be played in track order: Queen Witch; Super Hero; Should We Dance? (comp. M. Littlefield); Double Rations (a double entendre?); Why? (comp. Jelly Roll Morton, Littlefield's affecting vocals); Ice Cream for Breakfast; Driving Me Crazy (comp. Walter Donaldson/Bennie Moten/Elise Rana); Sorry You're Gone; Suit of Roses; Lowdown.

Why? with Littlefield's vocals and Robinson's clarinet, a swift take on (You're) Driving Me Crazy (vocals courtesy of Littlefield and Rana), Sorry You're Gone (washboard Rana scrubbing away) then Lowdown. Album  done, it was time to recharge a glass.

Beers and cocktails, cocktails and beers, tap water for (some of) the terpsichoreans, then it was back to business. The Mooche (Rana sitting out, or, rather, at the far end of the room, handling brisk business at the merch stall), Rana returning to sing One in a Million (the 'one in a million' was in the room), Graveyard Shift, a stonkin' Viper Mad, this was the House of the Black Gardenia revisiting some of their greatest hits. 

Pilgrim is up there with the very best venues in town, HotBG is one of the region's very best bands, it was quite an occasion. Russell 

ALBUM REVIEW.