Bird Lives @ The Cherry Tree. Mark Toomey Quartet

Mark Toomey (alt), Jeremy McMurray (pno), Peter Ayton (bs), Dave Donnelly (dms).

Bird lived tonight at the Osborne Rd. eatery when Mark Toomey opened up with Parker's Mood. His blues drenched alto effecting the resurrection of the spirit of Charlie Parker.

Yardbird may have been raised but no such good fortune befell my Fried Quail's Egg as it sat nicely atop my Corned Beef Hash Cake prior to being devoured. By the time Mark had reached his third chorus of Stella By Starlight it was sunk without trace apart from the pleasing vibes from my taste buds.

There Will Never Be Another You (Ewe?) was the perfect background to a Marinated Lamb Steak, Grilled Aubergine & Spiced Red Lentils main course that lingered long after the last succulent morsel had gone. Jeremy's piano choruses on What Is This Thing Called Love had a similar lasting effect.

East of the Sun - shone - It's You Or No One did too.

I can think of few better combinations than Pistachio & Apricot Tart with Chantilly Cream and the MTQ playing Night in Tunisia. The two complement each other perfectly.

It was a night of good music and good food.

Only one minor quibble Mark's announcements weren't very clear so I missed out on the titles of his originals and, because of the nature of the venue, perhaps introducing the players is better done at the end of the set rather than at the beginning where the diner's priorities are in deciding whether to go for the Watercress and Endive Salad or the Scottish Smoked Salmon with Rye Bread and Lemon starter rather than wondering who's on bass.

However, that's just me being 'picky'.

Lance

Après Sage Jam @ The Hilton

Extra curriculum activity for Friday & Saturday.  Hilton Hotel 11.00pm - 2.00am  Noel Dennis Quartet/Quintet will host an après concert jam session in the Hilton Hotel (official festival hotel) so hopefully we can expect some after hour fireworks from some of the weekend's jazz celebs. Noel Dennis tpt/flugel, Adam Dennis piano, Andy Champion bass, Adrian Tilbrook drums and on Saturday the addition of Rod Mason alto.

Adrian.

Happy 80th Birthday Stephen Sondheim

Okay so maybe it's not jazz but, sometime, when you have a spare minute, play & listen to the lyrics of " Everybody ought to have a maid" It is a number from " A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum" this is sheer genius, tongue in cheek suggestive stuff...long live SS. He is composer of the week on Radio 3 starting today at midday until Friday, 5x 1 hour progs repeated at 10pm each eve.

Happy birthday.

Liz.

You Couldn't Write The Script... The Safe Sextet (minus 2) - Splinter @ The Bridge Hotel.

John Rowland (ten), Alan Law (pno), Barry Ascroft (bs. gtr.), Steve Doyle (dms).

This was one of those nights where you couldn't write the script and if you did it would be for Spike Jones and his City Slickers!

The only difference tonight was that, for all the slings, arrows and music stands that befell them, the four piece sextet played music that swung.

Although now working as a quintet at their Jazz Café Friday night residency, they have retained their Safe Sextet nomenclature as it has more pizazz than say The Quintessential Quintet and besides, Steve's spent much time and energy fixing the letters to the head of his bass drum.

However, misfortune struck before a note was blown. Trumpet-playing leader Don Forbes was taken ill and so then there were four.

This meant that a new set list had to be made out with the onus falling on John Rowland. and, as if this wasn't enough, during the actual playing, music stands fell over frequently without, it has to be said, anyone missing a beat. 'Tis my feeling that the traditional music stands that have stood (!) the test of time for say the Hallé Orchestra are no longer practical for the gigster and nor do they enhance things visually.

Fortunately, the music itself more than made up for outrageous fortune and stirring renditions of Bernie's Tune, Blue Bossa, Four, Come Rain or Come Shine, a Clifford Brown/Max Roach number - Quicksilver - and several more concluding with Blue Monk made this a night when the Safe Sextet triumphed magnificently over adversity.

On piano, Alan Law played brilliantly; big fat chords and tension building crescendos that merged into delicate diminuendos. With Alan on keys a quartet really does sound like six.

John Rowland blew some tough tenor whilst Steve and Barry drove him all the way.

They will be back in the Autumn.

In the meantime best wishes to Don, I'd been looking forward to hearing him blowing trumpet and flugel.

Lance.

Dave Barden 'Off the Record' @ The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle.

Painter Dave Barden's latest exhibition - Off the Record - in the Cube Gallery at the Biscuit Factory focuses on his current investigations of the cover/label art of 78 and 45 rpm records.

Barden has had a long association with jazz and blues music. He was artist in residence at a recent Gateshead International Jazz Festival at the Sage and has exhibited widely on his chosen subject.

This current show features pop culture in equal measure to that of jazz and blues. Barden will frequently paint directly onto cardboard and collage pieces. Impressionistic, immediate responses suggest, perhaps, Sinatra at a studio mic, Bruce Adams and Alan Barnes sharing the stand and...well, go see, imagine for yourself.

Prices range from £450.00. - £1600.00.. One painting Jazz on a Summer's Day has already sold (£750.00.), so if you want one, you'd better be quick!

Russell.

No More Pizza On The Park!

From information gleaned from one of my 'snouts' I understand the Knightsbridge Pizza Express has been given notice to vacate the building by 24th June, as the owners of the site have an apartment block or hotel planned for the site ..... such a shame! After all these years of wonderful shows, it looks like it's finally curtains for this legendary venue. Lance

On the Sunnier Side of the Street..

Chatting to Digby F at the Daryl Sherman gig we found we were both big fans of Manhattan Transfer.

Having not heard Man Tran for awhile I YouTubed them and enjoyed their take on TD's On The Sunny Side of the Street.

However, when I tracked down Dorsey's original version with vocal by The Sentimentalists it was no contest - sorry MT.

Lance.

"Bits and Pieces". Tribute to a Guitarist - Leo Bissonnette.

Some nice guitar playing on this link from the late, unknown on this side of the Atlantic, Montreal based, Leo Bissonnette. His fellow bandmate Mike Wilkinson provides the introduction and compiled the collection.

Leo died 1970's. Click here for first of four. Lance.

Only 7 Days to Go...

As the Sage, Gateshead, INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL is only 7 days away Now's The Time to check out the program and make that last minute booking before it's too late.

As well as the previews on this site (right panel) there are in depth looks at each event on the Sage website. Click here and get it from the source.

Lance.

SNAFU

If you have difficulty posting comments please email them to me direct (lanceliddle@gmail.com). The blogger team are working Cole Porter hours (Night and Day) to resolve the problem. Lance.