To witness five musicians of this calibre on their very best form was a privilege and one that will remain with me for years. Newcomer RJ Gilbert on alto sax is still studying at Birmingham Conservatoire and if he were nervous to be playing with such established and highly accomplished musicians, it didn’t show. He was a cool customer who looked to be enjoying himself as he played off and with the others, particularly David Newton whom he obviously admired deeply (and who can blame him!) I particularly liked his feature on the jazz standard My One and Only Love where he displayed seemingly effortless fluency and breath control throughout his sweet lyrical performance.
A Bitta Bittadose, based very closely on Bobby Watson’s A Bitter Dose, was a great crowd pleaser and gave each musician a chance to rise to the occasion in this later period Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers blues. The stunning pianism and inventiveness of David Newton complemented by the fine work on double bass, Simon Allen and RJ Gilbert leading the horn chorus and Clark Tracey demonstrating why he is consistently rated as the UK’s best drummer with his inventive use of his kit.
Thelonious Monk’s Blue Monk stood out in the equally enthralling second set. It cannot be easy to play the work of such a musical eccentric and maverick, but David Newton seemed to relish the experience and deliver a stunning performance which he made his own.
There were memorable solos throughout the gig, but i think people should take time to hear the obligatos. The inventiveness and intense listening provided by bass, drums, piano lifted the solos and put smiles on the faces of the musicians.
I may have misheard Clark announce the next number as In A Semi Mental Mood rather than In a Sentimental Mood, although never doubt his playfulness and dry wit especially when Simon Allen’s rendition on soprano saxophone was a quirky interpretation which tinkered with the time signature of the Ellington original. Equally as beautiful but not a slavish cover of that truly beautiful jazz standard.
Sonny Rollins’ St Thomas was played as a fittingly drum-led Latin shuffle by the whole band and concluded the set. I listened carefully to Clark’s use of little mallets on this one, and was flabbergasted to hear him weave three simultaneous cross-rhythms.
The short but sweet encore was Hank Mobley’s This I Dig of You. Several members of our audience were moved to give the quintet a standing ovation and quite rightly so.
I am greatly looking forward to the conversations with Bill Evans provided by the Adrian York Trio, on June 12th. It promises to be an evening of quietly intense beauty, not to be missed.
Take care,
Dave
THE CLARK TRACEY QUINTET
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 22/5/24
- Rainbow at the Five Mile Road (Stan Tracey) from the 1969 Stan Tracey Quartet album, Free An’ One
- Euphony (Stan Tracey) Stan’s first recorded composition from 1952 with Victor Feldman’s All Stars.
- My One and Only Love (Guy Wood/Robert Mellin)
- Remind Me In Three (Clark Tracey)based on the chord progression of Joe Henderson’s Recorda Me
- A Bitta Bittadose (Bobby Watson) based on Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers’ Bitter Dose
* * * * * * *
- A Funky Day in Tiger Bay (Stan Tracey) from the album Stan Tracey’s Hexad: Live at Ronnie Scott’s
- Blue Monk (Thelonious Monk)
- In A Sentimental Mood (Duke Ellington)
- St Thomas (Sonny Rollins)
- Encore: This I Dig Of You (Hank Mobley)