It’s long past midnight Monday and I’m sat here writing this
ready to post tomorrow morning because by then I’ll be too tired to do
anything. It was a freezing cold bitter all day kind of day, wisps of snow and
a biting wind. Felt fairly grim, couldn’t do much.
So, what did I do? I had a chance to escape and I took it –
break for the border! I went out!
Made it up to The Red Lion, driving to Isleworth, the car
rocking in the wind. The weather was so bad it was half empty and the pianist
was snowed in down in Kent. Mind you it meant I got a seat and I really needed
one. I wouldn’t have missed it for
anything, I probably would have crawled there. Live music is like a 6 pint
blood transfusion.
Thelonious Monk’s ‘Hackensack’ came early on, setting the
scene. Arrainged by Oscar Peterson and available, we were told, on YouTube
played by Stan (whatever he wants he…) Getz glaring out at John Coltrane. I’ll
check that out next time I can steal some wi-fi and I’ll link it here if Dave
O’Higgins is right about how good it is. Mind you, he was pretty darn good on
Sax himself tonight and there was no glaring.
We had Mika’s dream by Horace Silver and Chi Chi by Charlie
Parker. Hard and fast, it was Bebop night all night long, apart from a couple
of slow standards including ‘It ain’t necessarily so’. Long, languid saxophone,
dreamy flugelhorn (from Henry Amberg-Jennings, also on trumpet).
Andrew Clyndert on bass, Trevor Tomkins drums and on
keyboards a bluesy Ross Stanley, were so good in the quiet, disciplined rythym
sections where you could almost hear a pin drop (well I could hear the fish
tank burbling anyway). I think it would be what those quaint young folk call
rhythym n’ bass, just a little bit quieter. R n’ B for the Mod generation.
Overall, it was a young band, revelling in the best of Bop.
And Barry (trilby hat and shades, 11pm indoors) was having a
pretty good night too. You had to be there.
I drove back late at night, through an almost deserted West
London, once again dodging police cars. With The James Taylor Quartet,
that’s the one that’s heavy on the Hammond organ, 1960’s Jazz and Funk, taking
me home, on the stereo. Definitely Mod night.
How cool does that get?
How great a night can you have?
How lucky am I?
Neil Harris
(a don’t stop till you
drop production)
Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
P.S. I just go for the Jazz nights, but I’m looking at
Saturday 6/4/13 on the programme;
“ ‘The Wessex Pistols’; All the punk hits and more –
Hillbilly style.”
Who could resist that combination?
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