06 Dec 2013 - The TOM HARRISON / JAMIE TAYLOR
GROUP
A pretty well 'last-minute' change of personnel and 'pad' did absolutely nothing to extinguish the flaming arrows emanating from Tom Harrison's sax or to save the wax on Jamie Tatylor's incendiary fretboard. Pete Turner pounded-out a relatively unfamiliar beat as if he'd been at it years with frequent, yet no less excellent flourishes and Caroline Boaden once again showed what an excellent, high quality and exquisitely discrete drummer she truly is, keeping the whole crowd bursting for a 'run' which was delivered finally with such thrilling technique and effect, that her bushel almost conflagrated. This really was one of THE JATPjazz gigs of all time - an absolute pearler leaving our audeience so bewitched there were numerous comments passed postulating whether a whip-round might induce a third, extended set. This lot will definitely be coming back! I urge you to keep an eye on Tom's website as he and Jamie are planning a Spring Tour - do go! - these people are jazz gold I tell you!
Tom Harrison - flute, alto sax, Jamie 'Bob' Taylor - guitar, Pete Turner - bass, Caroline Boaden - drums
15 NOV 2013 - PAUL BAXTER
QUARTET
An absolute CRACKER from the PAUL BAXTER QUARTET amply demonstrating why their album 'Monuments' spent a couple of weeks at the top of JAZZCD's new releases chart. Tom Harrison taking his sax to seemingly impossible extents at both ends of it's normal register and to devastating effect. Tom Taylor tackled the contemporary harmonies with ease and beautiful intricacy. Paul Baxter holding the whole piece together with the ease to which we have now become accustomed and assured and Jon Ormston, with kit so minimal it looked as if something was missing, yet sounded as if he'd brought much more, driving this boisterous jazz bus along with consummate ease and a massive grin, despite the changes of mood and tempo. A cracking band to a man!
Tom Harrison – alto sax, Tom Taylor - piano, Paul Baxter - double bass, Jon Ormston - drums
01 Nov 2013 - SKAMEL
04 OCT 2013 - OLLIE HOWELL QUINTET
I must confess to being unavoidably detained elsewhere on 04 Oct but most disappointed was I to miss this gig. And by all and many accounts, the Ollie Howell Quintet were the 'business'. As one regular most succinctly put it "you'd pay a lot more to hear a lot worse", which in Yorkshire is the highest of praise for sure. Thus Ollie got his album tour off to a terrific start and I urge you on this basis to check-out www.olliehowell.co.uk/gigs for all the latest in this respect and where you can next experience the glorious music and playing of Mark Perry – trumpet, Duncan Eagles – tenor saxophone, Matt Robinson – piano, Max Luthert – double bass, Ollie Howell – drums/compositions
06 Sep 2013 - EDWARDS-DEARDEN QUINTET
The result of Julie and Kevin's 13 year stint far and wide around the music scene was amply evident as the Edwards-Dearden Quintet got JATPjazz's 2013/2014 season off to a very classy start. No limit was there to either their pad or their talents, with Messrs Kainyek, Turner and Lawrence lending full and impressive weight to the rear with top drawer musicianship and expression. A belting evening of jazz which I heartily endorse and urge you to see at the earliest opportunity where you will be bathed in Latin, groove, ballads and swing tunes with nods to Anita O'Day, John Meyer and possibly Carlos Santana!
Julie Edwards - vocals, Kevin Dearden - guitar, Ed Kainyek - saxes, Dave Turner - double bass , Hugh Lawrence - drums
05 July 2013 - JAMIL SHERIFF TRIO
** Generously sponsored by long-term Patron, Mr Keith Jennings Esq **
Jamil Sheriff - piano,
Pete Turner - bass
Dave Walsh - drums
I'd like to apologise for the delay in reporting on the JS Trio gig of 05 July but I cannot as I've purposely delayed to see if the musical thrill of the event actually wore off. So here I am and it most definitely has not! What an unqualified masterpiece it was - one of the top gigs of the season and we have had some crackers. I particularly loved Jamil's 'takes' - the subtle balance of Jamil's interpretation and occasional adherence to which was simply sublime. Yet this observation seeks in no way to cast shadow on the Jamil's original material which was equally abundant and most impressive. All three musicians were top drawer - Jamil's key work was an enormous amalgam of the likes of Evans, Jarrett et al, but subsumed into his own personality and style and to most excellent effect. This might seem an odd comment, but if you listen very intently to Jamil, the result most massively outweighs the effort in so doing - extraordinary! It was also particularly satisfying to hear the great Dave Walsh in trio form - always a 'class' act but that bit of extra 'room' really afforded the eagerly grasped opportunity to demonstrate with enhanced clarity what a monster stick man Mr Walsh truly is. And so to Pete Turner on bass - it says much of a man who can so excellently 'coral' two such 'longhorn' musical characters as Sheriff and Walsh to such a great extent that the audible outcome appeared to emanate from a number greater than three.
The JS Trio are part of Jazz North's 'northern line' support initiative, so do look out for them in your necks of the woods - they are well worth taking in for a massive night of the best piano trio jazz.
I strongly urge you to check-out the links below and whilst I am at it, Jamil is also pressing hard with his Big Band who have recently released a fabulous album "Icthiology" and let me tell you , there's nothing fishy about it whatsoever, other than to postulate why these guys are not all over the lists.
07 June 2013 - EYES SHUT TIGHT
Eyes Shut Tight, Paul Baxter (Bass), Tom Taylor (Piano) and Kristoffer Wright (Drums), presented two expansive sets - first half covering the trio's forthcoming 3rd album Resonance and the second reinforcing the brilliant compositional talents of Mr Baxter with a fine selection of tracks from their current album Thaw. Tom Taylor stood-in most impressively and athletically for the touring Johnny Tomlinson delivering thrilling, almost ballistic keywork. Definitely a trio to catch at the earliest opportunity.
"There are a lot of piano trios around but Eyes Shut Tight deserve to be rated right up there amongst the best of them". - The Jazz Mann
17 May 2013 - NICOLA FARNON TRIO
what a MINT gig that was last night - Thrilling on every level - not seen such unanimity of grinning chops in a good while. We've had some absolutely knock-out gigs this year (with careful selection and programming of course, you understand - actually that's bollo&s) with some absolute rippers but you guys are in the shadow of none of 'em, most surely. So innumerable thanks for a stupendous evening of jazzy entertainment as it's so much more than the music alone with you, though your music is easily sufficient alone - Top Drawer Babe!
Piero Tucci is a world-class musician without doubt - I swear some of those keys were depressing themselves - a bit like the Sorcerer's Apprentice almost. You are of course the Queen Pin around which it all revolves so beautifully in all respects, but I MUST add that your Phil is a quiet monster lurking almost anonymously in the background. Being the observant sort as I am (?!?), it wasn't until you were packing up that I realised he only had his snare and bass drums out (plus cymbals of course), but to keep you other two little Jazz Japesters in all manners of rhythmic alignment and rattle off those excellent, ripping runs is an enormous feet with such minimal equipment - TERRIFIC! So I salute you three who leave a crowd feeling as if they've watched a Nonet - Truly Excellent
.. and "yes!" we had dancers!!
03 May 2013 - THE ALLSORTS BAND
15 May @ The Lescar, Sheffield, 8:30pm £5
13 June @ The New Bradford Playhouse 8:30pm, £6
15 September @ Lancaster Jazz Festival (Lancaster Brewery) 2:30pm
Katie Patterson - drums
Russ Henderson - sax
Eirik Svela - guitar
Oli Cadman - keys
Peter Gavin - bass
www.theallsortsband.com
05 April 2013 - NICKI ALLAN SEXTET
2010 Jazz Yorkshire Vocalist of the year, Nicki with a 'killer' band plus the best jazz audience in the North!? The perfect formula for an evening of the best of all jazz worlds - serene vocals, supreme stagecraft, 'dirty' instrumentals, piano solo and flawless musicianship from :-
Nicki Allan - voice
Joel Purnell - tenor sax
Jim Corry - sax
Graham Hearn - piano
Adrian Knowles - bass
Ronnie Bottomley - drums
- a truly exceptional evening of jazz of the highest marque. Faultless performances across the piece and Mr Bottomley's arrangements are a further wonder to behold - completely refreshing to even the most exercised of 'standards'. Do get to see them when you can - you will not be disappointed. In fact you will be further amazed by the band member never listed, the good Mrs Bottomley. What greater love can a woman have for a man than to lug his drum-kit from car to gig, distribute heavy stand cases hither and thither under the instruction of The Master according his every whim, sit and enthusiastically watch the gig and then reverse the whole process. I tell you I've seen beasts of burden relieved of much less onerous duties in the name of Her Maj. So when the laurels for selfless devotion to 'jazz' are handed out, I propose the excellent Mrs Bottomley. She is a Star!
15 March 2013 - PHIL MEADOWS QUINTET
In the opinion of most of the JATPjazz faithful, Phil Meadows was a 'Master of Jazz' long before his trek 'sarf' to collect the parchment of proof - however I do believe the experience has served Phil well! His last JATP gig was an unadulterated BLAST! All listeners seemed to depart with permanent smiles and grins. Well this most recent visit eclipsed even that - What a wang-dang-doodle gig it was - Phenomenal! - why Phil is not all over the Jazz CD racks just beggers belief. The variety and intensity of his writing, playing and improv is utterly jaw-dropping. A quick skip through the line-up reveals a cohort of SERIOUS up-and-comers, whom, whilst still studying, are raising, almost to their elastic limit, the eyebrows of London's Jazz cognoscenti. The fact that these 'guys' clearly love playing Phil's music in his band speaks volumes for the whole bunch. Thus I ask myself why some jazz clubs inquire as to the age, geography and academic status of such excellent musicians - if they're good enough, they're old enough. Ask Omar Puente (violin and broad grin) - he was there and joined Phil Meadows (saxes) Laura Jurd (trumpet), Elliot Galvin (piano), Conor Chaplin (bass) and Steve (Chief) Hanley (drums) on stage. Join them yourselves at the next opportunity for the best jazz!.
01 March 2013 - TIM FRANKS QUARTET
01 Feb 2013 - CLAIRE JAMES TRIO
Claire James, piano, Gavin Barras, bass and
Jake Walker, drums ..
.. treated the JATPjazz faithful, whose ranks continue to swell steadily, to an evening of high class piano trio jazz bristling with epitomic technique. Look out for Claire and do take in her wonderful technique. Her classical grounding is certainly to the benefit of her jazz yielding a beguiling subtlety in composition and performance. High Brow!
‘A highly promising snapshot of a young trio with bags of potential’.
04 Jan 2013 MATT CHANDLER QUARTET
Alas, the old MC succumbed to one of the numerous cold-related variants abounding and had to 'blob'. Bicât the Great stepped up to the plate to host a cracking Matt Chandler gig.Ian Beestin (drums) texted me (at half time - not whilst performing) to say "Good turnout and good times being had" and Ian's cousin mailed ""Hi Ian - my friends and I had a really good evening last Friday . I think i'm getting to like Jazz. Love Jude x" so there you have it from other horses mouths - Cracking Audience, Cracking Band and a well-appreciated gig with marvelous music from a top class band augmented by Neil Hunter (keys), Geoff Pearson (bass) and Ian Beestin (drums). No surprise to hear then that Matt has won the internationally contested Eastman Guitars/ "Bob Barry - Jazzography in Black & White" sponsored Future Guitar Legend (tm) Talent search. Further evidence that we seem to know how to pick 'em
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