Alexia Gardner (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Jude Murphy (bass, backing vocals); Abbie Finn (drums).
Alexia never fails to delight. Unique interpretations of tried and tested standards delivered in her own individual style.
I'd heard her singing them all before yet they seem to come out differently each time - the mark of a true jazz singer.
Toomey confessed to not being one for naming tunes - Mouse in the House and Song for Laura, titles inspired by home and family. And why not? That's as good as anything. Jeremy McMurray knows his way around a keyboard, that's for sure, Ken Marley, propulsive, robust, Paul Smith equally propulsive*, it all added up to a secure foundation, enabling Toomey to fly high, free as a bird (Yardbird?).
If Rhythm Changes was called at a jam session Mark Toomey would be in his element, standing his ground against the best of them. Ballad (Song for Laura), bop-burner (Mark Time), whatever Toomey's mood (Parker's Mood?), the Mark Toomey Quartet scored heavily on this second, sweltering, day at the 2026 Newcastle Jazz Festival.
* On Sunday (July 5) at Newcastle Jazz Co-op HQ on Railway Street, Smithy will be driving the juggernaut that is Gerry Richardson's nine-piece Big Idea. One of the great Hammond-led outfits here on Tyneside, or anywhere else for that matter, book now at: www.theglobenewcastle.bar. Russell
Set list included: Do You Have the Time?; One More Try; Mouse in the House; Song for Laura; Those Rainy Summer Days; I'm Sorry; I Don't Know What to Say; Mark Time.
https://www.ayclifferadio.co.
Playlist 28/06/26 (repeated Tuesday 30/06/26)
Seasonal: Red Allen's All Stars, Billie Holiday.
Requests from Dr. Jazz: Louis Armstrong, Stefon Harris, Dave Brubeck, Mammal Hands, Lou Reed.
Tony Eales Best of Britain: Alan Barnes.
Request: Emmet Cohen.
New Release: Prime.
Requests: Jaco Pastorius, Quincy Jones, Lena Horne.
What’s on in the NE: De'Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite, Spats Langham.
Request: Robert Cray.
Aycliffe Radio is available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington area or via your smart speaker.
Cooper Robson (vocals); Stanley Elvis Woodward/King David
Ike-Elechi/Ferg Kilsby (vocals) (track 9); Stanley Elvis Woodward (bass
guitar/synths); King David Ike-Elechi (drums/percussion); Ferg Kilsby (Trumpet,
flugelhorn); Sandro Shargarodsky (piano, keyboards, synthesiser); George
Johnson (tenor saxophone); Otto Kampa (alto saxophone); Tom Ford (guitar);
Geordie Greep (guitar) (tracks 4 and 7); Josh Mitchell-Rayner (piano) (track
1); Viviane Ghiglino (flute) (track 1); Lucy Rowan (alto flute) (track 1);
Frank Barr (clarinet) (track 1); Sebastian Barley (French horn) (track 1);
Tobias Amadio (trumpet) (track 1); Bertie Beaman (trombone) (track 1); Dillon
Pinder (trombone) (track 9); Enya Barber (violin); Congling Wu (violin);
Natalia Solis Paredes (viola); Morgan Key (cello)
There’s a wonderful Northern defiance that runs through much of this
album like a steel rod. It’s two fingers up to the South and advice to tell
them that they can stick their ingrained entitlement and belief in their
superiority where the sun don’t shine. (Ironic suggestion, I know, in the
middle of a heatwave).
It ranges from big boots on the ground, declaimed poetry, through rapid-fire punk rock to jazz-rock, some blues-soul and an occasional sweeping elegance that all holds together because these are all constituent parts of their portrait of the North. Heresy, I know, but it reminds me of Ezra Collective in the way that Knats have incorporated their roots into the music, meanwhile, the imagery in Cooper Robson’s poems add enormous strength to anchoring the group into the local soil.
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| © Russell |
From the moment that BSH announced to its readers the advance notice of this gig there was a buzz in the air, an eager anticipation that this was going to be out of this world. And it was.
Call me a romantic if you will but methinks that the almighty claps of thunder that shook the residential foundations of Tyneside this morning were in fact the Gods themselves saying thank you for last night's concert.
From the off everything gelled. Jackie McClean's Bird Lives saw the trio slotting a whole load of Parker phrases into the solos. It was hard to comprehend how a drummer-less trio could have such power.
Some albums, once heard, stay with you for the rest of your life, others are played once and then promptly forgotten. The Long Way Home belongs very much in the former category to the extent that I feel I'll still be listening to it in ten years time, and of course tomorrow and the day after that.
At 98 years old bass player Bill Crow, like Jack Honeyborne at the Spice of Life on Monday, proves that age is no obstacle - if you've got it - and he's got it as both soloist and ensemble rock - it stays with you. Likewise Steve Little, at 91, by comparison, is barely out of short pants.
For many years, Vanessa Haynes has been one of those voices woven into the fabric of British soul and jazz. Whether fronting Incognito, appearing regularly at Ronnie Scott's, performing at the BBC Proms or bringing her extraordinary energy to Natalie Williams' Soul Family, she has built a reputation as one of the finest vocalists working in the UK today. Audiences know the power of her voice. They know the way she can command a stage, lift a chorus and draw listeners into a performance. What they may not know is that behind that celebrated voice sits a songwriter of considerable depth and maturity.
Time flies. Was it really four, perhaps five years ago, when we first heard Sam Toulson and the Ho brothers, that's Edgar Ho & Oscar Ho? The Black Swan jam session in the basement of Newcastle Arts Centre is home to a twice monthly jam session and that's where, one night, these guys walked in.
