Music review: Gateshead International Jazz Festival 2015

This large open space is not well suited to music, but on this occasion the New York Brass Band was much too loudly amplified, distorting the music and making it very uncomfortable to listen to.
For the main event I opted for Stan Tracey’s Under Milk Wood Suite in the Sage’s Hall 2.

The first set was presented as the Bobby Wellins Quartet with the veteran tenor saxophonist accompanied by Steve Melling on piano, Andrew Cleyndert bass and Clark Tracey drums.
Though Wellins’ tone is drier these days, he still has a distinctive sound which was well displayed here. An opening Sweet Lotus Blossom seemed to suit him very well followed by a vigorous performance of Lover Man and an expressive and imaginative It Never Entered My Mind.

For the second set, the same quartet was joined by narrator Ben Tracey for Under Milk Wood, first performed by his grandfather, the late Stan Tracey (and Bobby Wellins) 50 years ago.
Originally issued as music alone, it has since the 1970s been interspersed with readings from Dylan Thomas’s radio play. The characters in the fictional village of Llareggub – Polly Garter, Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard, Captain Cat and many more – remain vivid, though on this occasion I thought the music was perhaps a little subdued.

Day 2
SATURDAY was the first full day with a dozen major events to choose from as well as the free programme in the Concourse (unfortunately still often over amplified).

A particular highlight was the appearance in Hall 2 by pianist Gwilym Simcock. Rather squeezed onto the smaller stage, his first set featured his trio with the virtuosic bassist Yuri Goloubev and drummer Martin France.

From their opening extended improvisation on Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way, the three were very well balanced sonically and musically, with an obvious musical rapport that was a joy to hear. The second set featured the trio alongside a sizeable contingent from the Royal Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Clark Rundell in a scintillating performance of Simcock’s striking suite Move! which convincingly merged both jazz and classical elements.

In an interlude between concerts, Kevin LeGendre talked to all seven members of The Cookers,who performed on Day 3, revealing among other things that trumpeter Eddie Henderson was actually present at the original Freddie Hubbard/Lee Morgan session, The Night of the Cookers, 50 years ago that weekend.

Back in Hall 2, there was a set by the Joshua Redman Trio with the same line-up heard here in 2009 with Reuben Rogers on double bass and Greg Hutchinson drums.
In a typical mix of standards and original compositions, Redman displayed wonderful tone and technique on both soprano and tenor saxophones and a well-honed interplay with his colleagues in a single set.
 

Day 3
Some of the best was yet to come with a stirring performance in Hall 2 by The Cookers whose name, still unfamiliar to many, embraces a group of very experienced musicians, most of them in their 70s.

They started right away with an attacking ensemble which eventually launched a blistering solo by tenor saxophonist Billy Harper.

Other numbers featured trumpeters Eddie Henderson and David Weiss and the newest recruit Jaleel Shaw who, unfazed by the company of elders, rose superbly to the occasion.

With a masterful rhythm section of George Cables, Cecil McBee and Billy Hart it’s no wonder there was such propulsion to the performance.

Finally in Hall 1 for the evening performance the 21-piece big band Loose Tubes appeared in a special revival just for this Festival.

Never a slickly presented group, their irreverence was still evident but this performance was often too ragged, not helped by poor sound which left the sections out of balance and was slow to pick up on solos.

They had been preceded with an opening slot by saxophonist Andy Sheppard and pianist Rita Marcotulli who I thought stole the show with an exquisite performance which was playful and imaginative.
Peter Bevan