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| © Dave Sayer |
Pronounced ‘cow’ from a tune by Dewey Redman, in case you were wondering. An evening of celebration in tha Toon as Newcastle score 3 for the first time, it seems, since Adam was a lad and from the same ‘Adam was a lad’ time scale we have, on stage, legendary drummer Spike (Michael to his mother) Wells and from a more recent era, Riley Stone-Lonergan, here along with Eddie Myer on bass and pleas to buy the new album they are touring The Rule of Three. The title track of which opens proceedings.
It rolls along nicely, mid-paced with an edge and lovely fluid runs from Stone-Lonergan, the others steady and solid behind him. The spare trio format throws all the attention on the sax, with Myer providing a prodding bass whilst Wells is on manoeuvres before an exchange of solos with Myer sharp and pointed, Wells bombing and snapping with delicate cymbal punctuations.
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| © Russell |
They run through a series
of styles, from Now Here’s calypso to
some blues wailing and early jump jazz hoedown of Big John Patton’s Along Came John to the plodding country
of Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling (High Noon) via
an angular Lush Life. A highlight of
the first set is a slow blues that Stone-Lonergan infuses with some Dexter
Gordon soul. He’s a fine player and provides a masterclass in what the tenor
sax can say with flights through the higher register and some deep throated,
struggling rasps.
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| © Russell |
At times this has sounded like an exercise in nostalgia and at others it has felt very progressive, a deconstructivist approach to playing standards. It also feels like Stone-Lonergan has found his voice since the trio started, best illustrated, both with the five (from eight) tracks that he has composed for the new album, up from two on the first, and in the boldness of his playing. Dave Sayer
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