THIS WEEK’S GIGS

Another week with some excellent jazz on offer, dominated for me by two gigs representing the continuing creative development of the music.

Michael Garrick's gigs on Friday and Saturday reunite a band that was one of the most innovative of the 1970s, and which will undoubtedly still have stimulating things to say. But, even at 75 years old, Garrick himself doesn't stand still (I saw him recently at the Oxford, home to London's dynamic young Loop Collective), and he would appreciate the stunning double bill that Schmazz bring to the Cluny on Tuesday: Led Bib and The Hub are both loud and in your face, but are also doing genuinely interesting things musically.

Ours in a music with a tremendous history, and a challenging future. This week is a chance to savour both.

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JAMIE McCREDIE & LAURENCE BLACKADDER

Thursday 8th May | 7.00 pm
Treehouse Restaurant | Alnwick Garden
Dinner Reservations from 01665 511852

Guitar and bass combine to entertain the diners.

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Opus 4 Jazz Club presents
SUE FERRIS QUINTET
Sue Ferris (tenor & baritone sax, flute); Graham Hardy (trumpet & flugelhorn); Rick Laughlin (keyboards); Neil Harland (bass); Rob Walker (drums)

Thursday 8th May | 8.15pm
Travellers Rest | Cockerton | Darlington
Tickets £4.00 from 01325 469756

Although Sue Ferris has been keeping busy with other groups such as Big Idea and the Voice of the North Orchestra, this is the first outing for some time for her own dynamic band, where front line duties are shared with trumpeter Graham Hardy. The quintet’s appearance at Opus 4 just over a year ago was a great success, so “arrive early to get a table” is the advice this time round. 

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Blaydon Jazz presents
JEREMY McMURRAY TRIO
With JAMES BIRKETT

Thursday 8th May | 8.30pm
Blaydon House | Garden Street | Blaydon
Admission £4.00 on the door

Regular Blaydon guitarist Roly Veitch sits this one out (or possibly props up the bar) to make way for fellow virtuoso Jim Birkett.

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Jazz North East  & Gateshead Libraries present
MICHAEL GARRICK SEXTET with NORMA WINSTONE
Art Theman (reeds); Henry Lowther (trumpet); Michael Garrick (piano); Dave Green (bass); Trevor Tomkins (drums); Norma Winstone (voice)

Friday 9th May | 8.00pm
Caedmon Hall | Prince Consort Road | Gateshead
Tickets £11.00 | £9.00 concessions from 0191 433 8420

I’ve had a soft spot for Michael Garrick ever since he visited my school in the early 1960s, and I then saw him almost weekly playing with the Don Rendell – Ian Carr Quintet. Perhaps because of the time devoted to educational activities, he has often been more of a background presence in British jazz rather than a prominent performer, yet over the years he has led some outstanding groups – none more so than this sextet, which first came together in the ‘70s, and is now back on the road in celebration of Garrick’s imminent 75th birthday (30th May, if you want to send a card). The line-up is a who’s who of top names from the second generation of British modernists, all of them still playing with real passion and inventiveness. Heartily recommended.

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RED HOT REED WARMERS

Friday 9th May | 8.00pm
Saville Exchange | North Shields
Tickets £11.00 | £10.00 concessions | £5.00 students
From 0191 200 7026

A six-piece drawn from France, Switzerland and Germany, with the emphasis (as their name suggests) on front-line reeds players Aurélie Tropez and Stéphane Gillot. Their inspiration comes mainly from the music of clarinetist Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra, one of the most popular bands in 1920s Chicago.

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EXTREME MEASURES
Gary Turner (tenor sax); Jamie McCredie (guitar); Ben Gilbert (keyboards); Stuart Davies (bass); David Carnegie (drums)

Saturday 10th May | 8.00pm
Queen’s Hall | Hexham
Tickets £7.50 | £4.00 from 01434 652477

When they started out, Extreme Measures gigs tended to be several months apart. Now they’re popping up almost weekly – and deservedly so. Worth a trip to Hexham.

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MICHAEL GARRICK SEXTET with NORMA WINSTONE

Saturday 10th May | 8.00pm
Arts Centre | Vane Terrace | Darlington
Tickets £15.00 | £13.00 from 01325 486555

Another chance to hear Michael Garrick’s outstanding sextet.

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MAINE STREET JAZZMEN

Saturday 10th May | 8.30pm
The Coachman’s | off The Broadway | Whickham
Free admission

A new venue for the Maine Street band. This gig is a one-off, but they’re hoping to turn it into a regular residency if it goes well, so local trad fans should turn up and demonstrate their enthusiasm. Drinking lots of beer will probably also help to swing the landlord’s decision.

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FAREWELL TO HUMPH

It’s an indication of where jazz stands in the eyes of the media that several obituaries of Humphrey Lyttelton concentrated on his work with radio show ‘I’m Sorry, I haven’t a Clue’, and then – almost as an afterthought – mentioned “He was also a jazz trumpeter”. But that’s hardly surprising, because he was a great broadcaster, and in recent years at least half the audience at his gigs had come as much to see Humph the master of the double entendre as to hear Humph the jazzman.

Yet where the two sides of his career met, in his four decades as a presenter on Radio 2, he undoubtedly introduced many listeners to a wide range of jazz that they may otherwise have missed. And it’s that enthusiasm for all forms of the music that perhaps marks his outstanding contribution: typically, his final ‘Best of Jazz’ programme included tracks by Carla Bley and Ray Anderson as well as Sidney Bechet and Bunny Berigan, and his concerts might cover almost as wide a spectrum.

That same openness was apparent in the choice of players he employed in his bands – the reeds section in particular has been a launching pad for many successful careers – and in his willingness to engage women musicians at a time when jazz was still a predominantly male preserve.

Louis Armstrong once described Humph as “the best trumpeter in England”. That’s open to debate, but what is indisputable is that he was an outstanding missionary for the music, and the whole of the jazz community - of all persuasions – should be grateful for his contribution.

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