Calum Gourlay Quartet – 1 November 2019; Notes by Peter Fairman
Calum Gourlay !! . Well, this guy can certainly make the Big Double Bass sing. A deep rounded sound giving us some quite extraordinary solos to a very appreciative audience . Originally playing the Cello on his musical journey. fortunately for us changing to the Double Bass at the tender age of 14. He leads this Quartet on a Tour promoting its debut new Album “New Ears” of which I purchased a copy and currently playing it whilst writing these simple words.As expected all tunes were played at last nights gig, and are “All” originals , written by Calum. I…
Benn Clatworthy Quartet – 18 October 2019
We haven’t had tenorist Benn Clatworthy in far too long. The wonderful pianist John Donaldson delighted us recently, and again last Friday. Simon Thorpe, with his bass and grin, is always welcome. New to us was Darren Beckett, a drummer of style, dynamic and tonal range on a very small kit. The audience loved the Benn Clatworthy Quartet. Benn constructed a very good programme, varied in mood, speed and tone. He plays mostly in the upper registers of the tenor sax, with big changes in timbre. Some examples: the opening number of the first set was his “The Pursuit”. His…
Renato d’Aiello plays the music of Cedar Walton – 27 September 2019
David Lyons is on holiday so he has asked me to do the review. Normal service will be resumed next time around! The evening was an homage to the work of Cedar Walton, the pianist, composer and arranger. Born in Dallas, USA in 1934 he produced some lingering melodies and jazz classics which were performed superbly by Renato D’Aiello and his companions. The first set opened with the Hungarian pianist, Mátyás Gayer backed by Nicola Muresu on double bass and Alfonso Vitale on drums. All three had short solo parts which helped establish the format of the evening. Next up…