Andy
Hague (trumpet); Neil Yates (valve trombone); Elliot Richards (tenor
sax); Huw Warren (keyboards); Gavin Barras (double bass); Will Blackhouse
(drums)
In this intimate pub venue this little big band with 3 brass players literally raised the roof. Andy Hague, Bristol based trumpet player, led this very talented sextet and also provided arrangements for all the tunes performed. Although most of them were well known standards they were all given an original arrangement which made the evening very special.
Neil, Gavin and Huw were well known to me but I had not previously encountered the other three members of the sextet. All are high calibre jazz musicians. Elliot and Will impressed on sax and drums respectively and Andy is a very formidable trumpet player. Neil organises jazz at this Club each Monday and he is a multi instrumentalist usually playing trumpet/flugelhorn/sax so it was good to see him on valve trombone this evening. Huw as normal provided a masterful performance on keyboards.
The concert
started with I Remember You. Next up was the prominent post-bop jazz
tune composed by trumpeter/flugelhornist Tom Harrell’s Moon Alley. Huw was
featured on Twelve’s It a tune by the late great Ellis Marsalis father
of Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo etc. Most tunes provided solos but clearly Andy had
made a great job of the arrangements and I enjoyed the interplay of the various
brass instruments which was impressive considering that apart from Andy the
other musicians were sight reading on the evening without prior rehearsal. In
fact for some of the musicians they had not played with the others before.
I have seen
Gavin, Neil and Huw play multiple times in different groups. Huw is
internationally renowned as a solo and group pianist. Gavin plays with Matthew
Halsall and many other groups including the Dean Stockdale Quartet. Neil is a
legend in North Wales and beyond and I am very grateful to him for organising
jazz at this venue each week.
The arrangement
for Blue Bossa was tremendous and contained sections with nods to
Coltrane’s Love Supreme and Bobby Timmons' Dat Dere. Voodoo is a rarely heard jazz tune by Jim
Rotondi from his 2005 album Champagne
Taste. Glorious sounds on this from the front line.
Andy starred on
the ballad I Wished I Knew by Freddie Hubbard. The concert concluded
with the full sextet playing Almost Like Being in Love.
Live jazz takes place here each Monday from 8:00pm at this dog friendly and award winning pub where the food is as good as the music. Modern and traditional jazz alternate each week so next Monday, April 27, it’s trad, dad. Richard Morris
Set list I Remember You; Moon Alley; Twelve’s it; Tenderly;
Blue Bossa; You’ve Changed; Voodoo; I Wished I Knew; Almost Like Being
in Love
Llandudno Jazz
Club, Penrhyn Arms, Pendre Road, Penrhynside, Llandudno LL30 3BY
Mondays @ 8pm.
£10 cash entry pp, no booking required but recommended if dining.
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