James Girling (guitar); Dave Edge (tenor sax); Andreas Svabø (bass); Emil Norman (drums)
© Sylvia
Sonny Rollins' sabbatical years wood-shedding on the Williamsburg Bridge have long been an integral part of modern jazz folklore and needs no further background info from me
However, with the passing of the great man on May 25 this year every jazz jock has played tracks and paid tribute to him whilst bands and strollin' players have also done their bit.!
One such ensemble is the Bridge Quartet who last night at the Globe laid waste to any other band ploughing the same furrow. Two Brits and two Scandinavians, all four now based in Oslo, kicked off with Without a Song which is also the opening track on the album. From the moment the first cascade of notes erupted like a meteor storm from the bell of Edge's tenor myself, and the considerably less than capacity audience, sensed that this was going to be more than just another gig.
Was it not!
If Ever I Would Leave You from Rollins' follow-up album What's New? isn't your run of the mill jazz standard but Rollins, and by proxy the Bridge Quartet, don't do "run of the mill". The hit song from Camelot has a nice bounce to it with solos all round. Back to The Bridge for Where Are You? Edge draws the title out like Sinatra and Dexter do - Where....Are... You..? As opposed to the unhip Where Are You? where the words are read or played without emotion. The musicians avoid that pitfall.
I've Told Every Little Star was a Rollins favourite - I've got four versions spread over two discs - 4:52; 5:54; 4:26; 6:33 being the running times per track. I didn't time last night's version but I'm sure it will be up there. The first set, like the A side of the record finished with John S. It left me gobsmacked at what I was hearing from guitar, bass, drums and tenor - what a band! Why were the audience predominantly strangers? Where were the regulars?
The second set comprised: I'm an Old Cowhand (from Way Out West; The Night Has a Thousand Eyes; The Bridge; God Bless the Child and You do Something to me. All solid performances - if you're a jazz fan and you weren't there then you ain't a jazz fan. However, you have a chance of a suspended sentence by hightailing it down to Leeds tomorrow night (July 14) - DETAILS. Lance
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