An Evening of Jazz @ St. James, Morpeth – June 28

Mid-Northumberland Chorus, Robin Forbes (Musical Director); Emily Masser (vocals); Edgar Ho and Emma Straughan (piano); Oscar Ho (double bass); David McKeague drums); Kirsty MacDowell (cello)

There are about 60 people in the Mid-Northumberland Chorus so I won’t list them all but will say “Hi” to Sally, Kathleen and Viv, to keep in their good books. (Don’t ask). So here we are on a balmy Sunday evening in a church in Morpeth whilst all the serious groovers are getting their Bibs Ledded down at the Globe. (More elsewhere on BSH, I’m sure).

We are promised ‘An Evening of Jazz’. I’ve seen and heard the Chorus before a few times and they tend to go for songs from the shows (My Fair Lady a firm favourite, Les Miserables so dreadful, not even the Chorus’ enthusiasm can save it), and Christmas favourites so this is a departure for them.

Anyhoo, onto the concert and first up is A Little Jazz Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei) by composer Bob Chilcott which is more recent than its 1970s' Californian grooves will suggest. We open with rolling tumbling chords with Oscar punching in on the bass to add to the solid foundation whilst the higher voices soar. The second part is more dramatic swing with the deeper voices underpinning; brief but impressive. Sanctus is more gentle and contemplative, soulful and quite lovely before Benedictus’ hippy soul, suggestive of My Sweet Lord. Agnus Dei is, again, gentler, in the Carole King/Folk area to start but it grows with the voices adding extra power that builds and falls away in waves over a walking bass line and muted drums.

A change of focus brings Emily Masser on and Edgar takes over the piano. Emily explains that she has driven up from Cornwall today and her head’s still on the motorway. As ever, with such road warriors, there’s no evidence of that in her performance. Unfortunately, her amplified voice suffers in the big space, with some snatches of feedback, and sounds a little lost in the space which was created for massed voices rising in praise. It becomes less notable as her first short set progresses. She, the Hos and McKeague open with Del Sasser (If You Ever Fall In Love With Me) and there’s lots of space for her voice before Edgar’s busy solo. Oscar’s solo bops and dances and the piano adds steps around him. Emily brings out the irony in the lyrics to a bright and bouncy Everything Happens To Me. Edgar’s solo rolls along beautifully, adding solid chording to more extravagant frills. Delicate piano and voice take us into Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust, a song for a smaller, smokier place. Oscar skips around the melody, the piano spare and spacious; McKeague brushes on the drums and Emily is gentle and wistful. Edgar’s melancholy piano solo is followed by Oscar’s relaxed solo, all well timed pauses and runs. Show tune The Boy Next Door starts slowly and develops into a bouncing, swinging waltz with an easy stepping, joyous solo from Edgar before Oscar takes over for a series of exchanges with the drummer.

Ollie Hall and Will Straughan come to the front for the first of two comic pieces, commendably handling the timing, snap and vocal interplay of Well, Did You Evah and Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat. In between Oh Love for piano, Chorus and cello evoked wide open spaces with the cello as a voice in between the tenors and bass voices and the higher voices that escaped in flight as the piece progressed, providing more real drama and human emotion than almost all the songs from the musicals I’ve heard the Chorus sing in the past.

George Shearing’s Songs and Sonnets, a setting of pieces from Shakespeare, opened the second half. Live With Me…… was sprightly, lush and romantic in contrast to the more stately When Daffodils… The highlight was Who is Sylvia?, the least ‘jazzy’ piece in the set but the voices worked well with just the piano before the Chorus sweeps in dramatically and remind us that this is what the space was built for. Fie on sinful Fantasy was forceful and full voice (and surprisingly brief) before a return to the more stately for Hey ho, the wind and the rain with the basses and higher voices exchanging lines, each singing in turn.

Then the jazz trio returns with Emily Masser and after a terrible joke we’re into How High The Moon with her lovely voice full of bounce and swing and, after a brief bass solo, the brothers dig in together and let go for the first time this evening, Oscar’s bass providing added depth whilst Edgar lifts off and roams wildly. On Foggy Day Emily takes off on a scat covering her full range, full of sudden stops and vocal spins, breaking off for a skipping, bopping piano solo and further bass and drum exchanges. The familiar angularity of Monk opens the tragic melancholy that is Ruby, My Dear. Emily’s voice floats elegantly, riding the rise and fall of the melody line over the barest of accompaniment. Edgar fills in the spaces in his solo but still leaves lots of air. Emily shows her range and her timing through the changes on a full paced, rampaging Cherokee with a rapid fire piano and punchy bass from the brothers and Dave McTeague provides the rolling thunder on the drums, his playing full of cracks and rolls; he’s not having a conversation but a shouting match all of his own.

And then… relax for the swirling elegance of the lullaby Hushabye Mountain from Ian Fleming's most famous non-Bond work with the voices building and fading, strong and wistful, ghostly.

The audience participation element of closer Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around took considerably longer to organise than the song took to sing and is probably best left at that.

Not the ‘jazziest’ of evenings, then but there were several highlights, notably the performances of Emily and the jazz trio, but the two lads’ comic turn worked well, as did A Little Jazz Mass and the cello piece, Oh Love. Dave Sayer