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| © Richard Morris |
A high calibre quintet assembled for the usual quality jazz at Llandudno Jazz Club. Led by saxophone player Andor Jensen, a scouser, now based on the Wirral and Licentiate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Now into his seventh decade (just) he is a highly skilled musician and teacher and well established on the north west jazz scene. Tom Remon is based in London, an alumnus of Tomorrow’s Warriors. His solo style tends towards the spacious and melodic. Gavin and Will both travelled from Glossop. Gavin performs regularly throughout the UK and abroad and has performed as part of Matthew Halsall’s band for over 15 years. Will is an accomplished drummer who I have seen play at Llandudno on several occasions. Neil curates the jazz each Monday and is one of the UK’s top jazz trumpet players.
The concert
kicked off with Benny Golson's Whisper Not. On this tune and On Green Dolphin Street Andor played tenor sax showing
his virtuosity and power and was a vey able leader of this talented quintet.
Tom also provided a sublime solo on the latter tune. Andor moved onto
soprano sax for the next two - the Joe Henderson number Recorda Me and
the ballad Body and Soul. The first set concluded with Kenny Barron’s Voyage
which Andor dedicated to the 230 migrants who arrived in Dover on the day of
this concert after crossing the English channel on a mega-dinghy marking the highest
number of people ever carried by a single vessel during a Channel crossing.
The second set
comprised of well known tunes, certainly well known to most of the very knowledgeable
audience. Neil and Andor were prominent on Softly as in a Morning Sunrise which
was followed by Triste, a beautiful bossa nova composed by Antonio
Carlos Jobim in 1966 and You Don’t Know What Love is. Although usually
played as a ballad, the quintet opted to give it an up tempo work-out. Very
enjoyable. I was tempted to dance! The concert concluded with Freddie Hubbard’s
jazz waltz Up Jumped Spring and the Clifford Brown tune Joy Spring on which Neil’s talented daughter Fafi provided
some scat singing. A wonderful finale.
Live jazz takes place at the Penrhyn Arms each Monday from 8.00pm at this dog friendly, award winning, traditional rustic style pub where the food is as good as the music. It has a large tropical beer garden. The usual house dog enjoyed the music as did Andor’s dog which he brought along with him. Modern and traditional jazz alternates each week. The next modern jazz will therefore be on August 24. Richard Morris
Set list: Whisper
Not; On Green Dolphin Street; Recorda Me; Body and Soul; Voyage; Softly as in a
Morning Sunrise; Triste; You Don’t Know What Love is; Up Jumped Spring; Joy
Spring
Llandudno Jazz
Club, Penrhyn Arms, Pendre Road, Penrhynside,
Llandudno LL30 3BY
Facebook: The
Penrhyn Arms
Mondays @
8.00pm. £15 cash entry pp for modern jazz and £10 pp for trad jazz, no booking
required but recommended if dining. Tel Mark on 07792 834707 to book a table.
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