Georgia Mancio Quartet – 24 August 2018
What a happy band! Georgia Mancio‘s quartet were such a joy. Georgia at the top of her form, Kate Williams‘ elegance on piano, Georgia’s brand new husband Dave Ohm stonking on drums and the young and brilliant Conor Chaplin on bass. The music was a mix of joy and sorrow, covers and her own work. The latter included several pieces composed by Alan Broadbent, with Georgia’s lyrics. If you missed the gig (or even if you haven’t) you can get a taste of their Songbook on youtube. There are very few singers who have superb intonation and articulation, and still…
Fletch’s Brew – 10 July 2018
I had to get up very early Saturday morning to pick my wife up from Heathrow, so I was unable to stay for the second set of this marvelous gig.. I will chronicle the gig as best I can. The gig was led by the indomitable Mark Fletcher on the drums. We got to see the wonderful young trumpeter, Freddie Gavita in a different guise from the gig he gave us with his own band. Laurence Cottle is a supreme bassist, this gig, on the 6 string bass guitar. Ross Stanley arrived with a keyboard, not the advertised organ, but…
Rob Barron Quartet – 27 July 2018
What a day. Four and a half hour drive to Heathrow (my wife almost missed her flight), four and a half hour drive straight to the club, arrived 5:30, leaving poor Gerry to do all the work. Ran the sound check on empty. Along comes 8pm, and the quartet starts to play. This tight, accurate, quietly impassioned band woke me up in the first few bars, and enthralled me throughout. We had Rob Barron‘s quiet intensity on piano, Nat Steele‘s perfect melding on vibraphone, Jeremy Brown innovative on bass, and Josh Morrison’s excellent drumming. The music was entirely standards. The…
Chris Ingham’s Dudley Moore Show – 13 June 2018
It was a superb show that Chris and his friends gave us, and show is definitely the right word. It was presented by fine musicians: Chris Ingham on piano, vocals, research, compere; Paul Higgs on trumpet, flugel, vocals; Geoff Gascoyne on bass and vocals; George Double on drums, vocals. Chris’s thesis was that Dudley Moore was not just a great jazz pianist, but a very fine composer as well. Chris thinks that the best compositions were from the early work, mostly in the 60’s. Wikipedia gives Oscar Peterson and Errol Garner as influences, but Dudley had a strong classical background…
Freddie Gavita – 29 June 2018
Happy Canada Day, everybody. We last saw Freddie Gavita playing with Fletch’s Brew, complete with stomp boxes and the joyous Fletch madness. On Friday, Freddie brought just his trumpet, his music and a beautiful golden tone. The band was: Freddie Gavita ~ Trumpet, Tom Cawley ~ Piano, Calum Gourlay ~ Bass, Josh Blackmore ~ Drums. Freddie’s music is very engaging, It ranges from very slow balladic sonority to double time bebop. The tunes are memorable, even hummable. And of course the musicianship is stunningly good from all four The second set opened with “Alpha”, in which Freddie alternated legato and…