Jez Platt - guitar & vocals
Rod Mason - Keyboard, Sax & flute
Chris Sykes - drums
Chris Hargreaves - bass
Ed Collins - trumpet, percussion
First set just seemed to be going thru the motions but the second really warmed up with 'Let me see you shake it on the dance floor baby', 'I shot the sheriff', 'Isn't she lovely', etc; the band got into the groove and the audience called out for more.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
CW Stoneking dates
Excited to see CW Stoneking is playing some dates in the UK ... apparently I've missed a couple already! See cwstoneking.com but here are the UK dates:
June 7th
The Musician - Clyde Street, Leicester LE1 2DE, UK
June 8th
The Lexington - 96-98 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JB
August 1st
Cambridge Folk Festival - UK
August 7th
Tall Ships Festival - Hartlepool, UK
And apparently in Wakefield sometime at the beginning of August, not listed on his website, but Rich has got me a ticket! Yeah!
June 7th
The Musician - Clyde Street, Leicester LE1 2DE, UK
June 8th
The Lexington - 96-98 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JB
August 1st
Cambridge Folk Festival - UK
August 7th
Tall Ships Festival - Hartlepool, UK
And apparently in Wakefield sometime at the beginning of August, not listed on his website, but Rich has got me a ticket! Yeah!
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Jazz Dawgs and Friends at The Sportsman
On Saturday we went to Adrian Ingram's 60th birthday bash at The Sportsman in Huddersfield. He plays jazz guitar and used to be a lecturer at Leeds College of Music until, as he puts it, they started talking about 'learning units' instead of students. The 'prof' you could call him.
Terry Kenyon used to play with him for many years, even touring the USA as a duo with Adrian, playing jazz and blues. He played with some of the musicians on Saturday for a few numbers -
.jpg)
Terry is second from left and Adrian 3rd from left.
We missed the Jazz Dawgs first set - I'm so disorganised that this is a common occurrence, unfortunately. The second set was more of a mixture with guests 'sitting in' on various instruments. I haven't got all the names, I'm afraid. As well as Terry on guitar and vocals, the sax and trumpet players were very good, as was Robin on chromatic harp. A guitarist and bass player, introduced as the Jazz Pups, as they were a bit younger than the rest, also played some fine stuff.
Malcolm Rose (current band Rose'n'berg) did a few blues numbers which I enjoyed, backed by Robin on harp & Chris Strachan (current band Manhattan Sound - http://www.manhattan-sound.com/) on double bass, also Ian Wroe from the Jazz Dawgs I think.
See more about the Jazz Dawgs on their website http://www.jazzdawgs.co.uk
The Sportsman is at http://www.undertheviaduct.com
A good time was had by all!
Terry Kenyon used to play with him for many years, even touring the USA as a duo with Adrian, playing jazz and blues. He played with some of the musicians on Saturday for a few numbers -
.jpg)
Terry is second from left and Adrian 3rd from left.
We missed the Jazz Dawgs first set - I'm so disorganised that this is a common occurrence, unfortunately. The second set was more of a mixture with guests 'sitting in' on various instruments. I haven't got all the names, I'm afraid. As well as Terry on guitar and vocals, the sax and trumpet players were very good, as was Robin on chromatic harp. A guitarist and bass player, introduced as the Jazz Pups, as they were a bit younger than the rest, also played some fine stuff.
Malcolm Rose (current band Rose'n'berg) did a few blues numbers which I enjoyed, backed by Robin on harp & Chris Strachan (current band Manhattan Sound - http://www.manhattan-sound.com/) on double bass, also Ian Wroe from the Jazz Dawgs I think.
See more about the Jazz Dawgs on their website http://www.jazzdawgs.co.uk
The Sportsman is at http://www.undertheviaduct.com
A good time was had by all!
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Futile Photos
a February freezing fog
the dawn hasn't done its job
the streets still grey and sleepy
up the Greenfield Road
the grey is whiter
and we walk hopefully onto the moor
losing sight of the road in the mist
we climb and surely it is getting warmer, brighter?
near the summit we are in bright sunshine,
turn and see the tops of clouds spread below our feet
filling the valley below, bright sunshine,
billowing clouds stretched sky
and there standing proud - the top of the mast
alone in that rolling sea of white
that tower of babble on Emley Moor
and we on Black Hill stood elated too.
I took a few pictures before we walked back into the mist
but when I view them later on screen
the tower isn't there and the rolling sea
has gone - just a white haze
stretching to the empty blue.
the dawn hasn't done its job
the streets still grey and sleepy
up the Greenfield Road
the grey is whiter
and we walk hopefully onto the moor
losing sight of the road in the mist
we climb and surely it is getting warmer, brighter?
near the summit we are in bright sunshine,
turn and see the tops of clouds spread below our feet
filling the valley below, bright sunshine,
billowing clouds stretched sky
and there standing proud - the top of the mast
alone in that rolling sea of white
that tower of babble on Emley Moor
and we on Black Hill stood elated too.
I took a few pictures before we walked back into the mist
but when I view them later on screen
the tower isn't there and the rolling sea
has gone - just a white haze
stretching to the empty blue.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Marsden Blues Festival
Now I love the blues. Ever since hearing Taj Mahal and Fleetwood Mac singles in the sixties, progressing on to Canned Heat. Recently, inspired by Richard Johnston, I've explored the pre-war blues and wonder why I didn't before.
But sometimes I get bored by all the blues bands around at present. Most have a good guitarist, who has learnt to play licks like the famous guitarists from Clapton on. There is a bassist who is steady and a competent drummer. Sometimes there is another guitar, maybe even a harp player to create some different sounds. They've obviously listened to all the same music - Bluesbreakers, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Hendrix, Ten Years After ... then maybe Stevie Ray Vaughn ... but nothing much else. The result is a regurgitation of forty year old standards with slight variations in the guitar licks combined with attempts to exactly reproduce some of the more famous solos. Well rehearsed, but often lacking passion. It is often a recipe for a disappointing musical experience IMHO.
I went to see some of the free events at Marsden Jazz Festival. We saw 2 bands on Friday night & 2 on Saturday night. I know the blues helped create jazz, but it does seem to be strange. I guess blues bands will play for a lot less than a jazz band. Maybe I should pay to get into the main events! However, in general, I like blues better than jazz.
The 3 blues bands we saw were all very good, but the above criticism applied to them all. That's not quite fair, cos there we did get some soul, passion and feeling in the music we heard. Which is what I, for one, look for in music more than anything else.
Joshua Blue in particular displayed great feeling, tinged with more than a little tongue in cheek theatricality. Cliff Campbell (aka Joshua Blue) is a great showman and surely that isn't a bad thing? Although he is more of a frontman and singer than a guitarist, or perhaps because of that, for me his guitar solos knocked spots off anything else we've heard this weekend. He really knows how to phrase his guitar licks so it sounds as if he is saying something meaningful. He makes his guitar talk and what he is saying is pure emotion. His lead guitarist is technically much better and played some lovely stuff, but didn't get near the passion that Cliff wrung out of the music. Local legend Mark Layton-Bennett contributed great percussion as usual and looked to be enjoying himself. The bass and lead player are fairly new to the band & aren't listed on their web site - which could do with some work! They both turned in great performances as well. They had the packed audience baying for more and it wasn't till well after midnight that we got out.
Previously I'd caught a bit of Backwater Blues. Again, not quite fair to lump them into the general criticism of the modern genre as the lead guitarist & singer played some quite original solos, deeply exploring bent notes and overtones. His singing was powerful and up to the job. I would go and see them again, but found myself thinking "how many times have I heard this" before very long.
As I walked into the Carriage House to hear Tat, I was disappointed to hear, for the third time in less than 24 hours, the strains of "Black Magic Woman". Great song, but so overplayed. Again the band was very competent, but not very original. The best thing about them was that they played a couple of notches under the pain threshold in volume terms, which was very refreshing. I was getting tired, maybe I would have found more in them if I had more energy.
Caught a bit of the Stevie Williams trio in the Riverhead - a soul band on bar stools! I like that too. Stevie on bass and vocals, and a couple of guys on electro-acoustic guitar and drums - Jon Kenzie & Eryl Roberts are listed on Stevie's MySpace page. The guitarist seemed to take the lead vocal slot. They sounded great, particularly on Stevie Wonder and James Brown covers. Ended up out on the street listening to them as best we could, since it was so crowded inside. Another good night in Marsden!
But sometimes I get bored by all the blues bands around at present. Most have a good guitarist, who has learnt to play licks like the famous guitarists from Clapton on. There is a bassist who is steady and a competent drummer. Sometimes there is another guitar, maybe even a harp player to create some different sounds. They've obviously listened to all the same music - Bluesbreakers, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Hendrix, Ten Years After ... then maybe Stevie Ray Vaughn ... but nothing much else. The result is a regurgitation of forty year old standards with slight variations in the guitar licks combined with attempts to exactly reproduce some of the more famous solos. Well rehearsed, but often lacking passion. It is often a recipe for a disappointing musical experience IMHO.
I went to see some of the free events at Marsden Jazz Festival. We saw 2 bands on Friday night & 2 on Saturday night. I know the blues helped create jazz, but it does seem to be strange. I guess blues bands will play for a lot less than a jazz band. Maybe I should pay to get into the main events! However, in general, I like blues better than jazz.
The 3 blues bands we saw were all very good, but the above criticism applied to them all. That's not quite fair, cos there we did get some soul, passion and feeling in the music we heard. Which is what I, for one, look for in music more than anything else.
Joshua Blue in particular displayed great feeling, tinged with more than a little tongue in cheek theatricality. Cliff Campbell (aka Joshua Blue) is a great showman and surely that isn't a bad thing? Although he is more of a frontman and singer than a guitarist, or perhaps because of that, for me his guitar solos knocked spots off anything else we've heard this weekend. He really knows how to phrase his guitar licks so it sounds as if he is saying something meaningful. He makes his guitar talk and what he is saying is pure emotion. His lead guitarist is technically much better and played some lovely stuff, but didn't get near the passion that Cliff wrung out of the music. Local legend Mark Layton-Bennett contributed great percussion as usual and looked to be enjoying himself. The bass and lead player are fairly new to the band & aren't listed on their web site - which could do with some work! They both turned in great performances as well. They had the packed audience baying for more and it wasn't till well after midnight that we got out.
Previously I'd caught a bit of Backwater Blues. Again, not quite fair to lump them into the general criticism of the modern genre as the lead guitarist & singer played some quite original solos, deeply exploring bent notes and overtones. His singing was powerful and up to the job. I would go and see them again, but found myself thinking "how many times have I heard this" before very long.
As I walked into the Carriage House to hear Tat, I was disappointed to hear, for the third time in less than 24 hours, the strains of "Black Magic Woman". Great song, but so overplayed. Again the band was very competent, but not very original. The best thing about them was that they played a couple of notches under the pain threshold in volume terms, which was very refreshing. I was getting tired, maybe I would have found more in them if I had more energy.
Caught a bit of the Stevie Williams trio in the Riverhead - a soul band on bar stools! I like that too. Stevie on bass and vocals, and a couple of guys on electro-acoustic guitar and drums - Jon Kenzie & Eryl Roberts are listed on Stevie's MySpace page. The guitarist seemed to take the lead vocal slot. They sounded great, particularly on Stevie Wonder and James Brown covers. Ended up out on the street listening to them as best we could, since it was so crowded inside. Another good night in Marsden!
Sunday, 27 September 2009
5 days of music around Huddersfield
Saturday 19th September
Flaming Biscuits at Marsden Socialist Club
Sunday 20th September
Graham Robinson at The Puzzle
Monday 21st September
Adrian Byron Burns at The Head of Steam
Tuesday 22nd September
Richard S Johnston, Maia and Hey Zeus! at The Media Centre
Wednesday 23rd September
Music night - at The Sportsman
Flaming Biscuits at Marsden Socialist Club
Guitar anthem band playing quite a lot of more modern rock numbers (like Valerie). Good. Got the audience dancing and singing along.
Sunday 20th September
Graham Robinson at The Puzzle
After some foolery from Ron Evans and Andy Macdonald (aka Dead Grateful!), the blues & ragtime specialist came up with a great set. Check him out at his website. Due to double booking, he only got one set, making way for a band we didn't stop to see due to the lateness of the hour & Monday on the way.
Monday 21st September
Adrian Byron Burns at The Head of Steam
Yes, it's that man again. Only the best living guitarist/vocalist I've ever heard live. Check him out on his MySpace page. He put a lot into Hendrixology (his Henrix medley), including some jazz standards. The rest of the set was good, but I got the impression he wasn't about to bust a gut for just 20 people in the HoS!
Tuesday 22nd September
Richard S Johnston, Maia and Hey Zeus! at The Media Centre
Rich did a cracking short opening set that had everyone excited. Maybe he is starting to get the recognition he deserves? Check him out at his MySpace page, if you haven't heard him yet. Old school blues like it should be - & more.
Maia were great. Original songs with crafted and slightly unusual lyrics, rhythms, melodies and harmonies. Every aspect of their music is original, but yet approachable and pleasant on the ear. Really good to hear them again. They also have a MySpace page.
I felt a bit sorry for 'The Zeus!'. They were good, with original songs with guitars & vocals - but sounded very ordinary after Maia.
Wednesday 23rd September
Music night - at The Sportsman
Dire news - The Shoulder of Mutton (Lockwood) is closed and now up for sale! Luckily the Wednesday Music Night has survived and transfered its affections to The Sportsman in Huddersfield town centre. Do come down to listen, sing or play.
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Harry Rowland and Sam Dyson at The Red Lion
Went along to the Red Lion having been told they were good. They are very good. Very tight bass, guitar, singing & harmonies. Good taste in music, perhaps could have done with more blues for my taste! Harry has quite a good range of expression in his voice and did some bluesier phrases well. I'd like to hear them try some John Martyn / Danny Thompson covers.
I noted down most of the songs we heard:
Ain't no sunshine
Wait in Vain
From Claire to here
Come together
New England
Black Magic Woman
3 Worlds?*
Cinnamon Girl
Oh Well
Do it again
Wild wild wood?*
Local Boy (in the photograph)
Message in a Bottle
Sailing to Philadelphia
Jumpin Jack Flash
Mrs Robinson
Old Love?*
Garden of Grace?*
Lookin out for love
Runaway (The Calling)
Wish you were here
You can't always get what you want
Layla
Precious Time
I think it's gonna rain?
More than words?
? - not sure of title
* - their own composition?
I noted down most of the songs we heard:
Ain't no sunshine
Wait in Vain
From Claire to here
Come together
New England
Black Magic Woman
3 Worlds?*
Cinnamon Girl
Oh Well
Do it again
Wild wild wood?*
Local Boy (in the photograph)
Message in a Bottle
Sailing to Philadelphia
Jumpin Jack Flash
Mrs Robinson
Old Love?*
Garden of Grace?*
Lookin out for love
Runaway (The Calling)
Wish you were here
You can't always get what you want
Layla
Precious Time
I think it's gonna rain?
More than words?
? - not sure of title
* - their own composition?
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