Except for the presence of the wonderful Clark Tracey, the combined age of the musicians was actually less than mine. I hate it when that happens.
Clark has been working with these four musicians for a couple of years, during which they all have garnered garlands and awards. Their musicianship is just stunning.
So Clark (on drums, for those that don’t know) led and arranged the music for Alex Ridout on trumpet, Sean Payne on alto sax, Elliott Sansom on piano and James Ouston on bass. Clark planned just a few long numbers in each set so that everybody got a chance to blow, and blow they did.
Take Sean’s solo on Victor Feldman’s “Joshua”. Sean loves the high range of the alto sax and has complete command of it, playing most of the solo in that range and using the low range for accent. James had a beautiful bass intro on this one.
Alex had a superb high speed solo on her own “Top Dog”. In contrast, in David Raskin’s “Laura”, she produced a truly beautiful tone on this very slow ballad. The piano accompaniment by Elliot was perfect.
Elliott has such speed in his fingers that I was worried that our upright piano action could not cope (it did). He can play slow with intensity too: Kenny Wheeler’s “Foxy Trot” had him produce a Sati like intro. I also loved his solo on the Adderly (Nat, I think) “Funk”.
James controls the bass from top to bottom. It was tricky to pick a single solo from this young master, but probably his in “Top Dog” was most memorable.
Our good friend Clark brought us a great band, excellent arrangements, clear and informative announcements (thank you, thank you) and superb drumming. There were some extended 4s trading, and a great solo in Hank Mobley’s “Take Your Pick”.
On Friday, The John Turville Quintet featuring the superb Julian Arguelles will be with us. Don’t miss this stellar band: John Turville piano, Julian Arguelles tenor/soprano sax, Robbie Robson trumpet, Dave Whitford bass, James Maddren drums
Take care,
Dave