Jazz musician Chris Ingham and folk musician Chris Wilbraham cast their expert eyes over the local music scene
JAZZ with Chris Ingham: cjr.ingham@outlook.com/chrisingham.co.uk
Tuesday, July 9
RENATO D’AIELLO (Maddermarket Theatre Bar, Norwich, 8pm, £16/£8 u25, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) Fiery Italian saxophonist plays his favourite standards with Simon Brown (piano), Simon Wood (bass), Tom Jiggins (drums).
Wednesday, July 10
CHRIS INGHAM TRIO (Orwell Hotel, Felixstowe, 12pm, £12, felixstowemusic.com) A lunchtime concert featuring the 1960s jazz of beloved comic actor Dudley Moore, with Chris Ingham (piano), Malcolm Creese (bass) and George Double (drums).
STAN GETZ/CAL TJADER TRIBUTE (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £22, fleecejazz.org.uk, 01787 211865) A salute to the warm and luxurious 1950s tenor saxophone/vibraphone collaboration of Stan Getz and Cal Tjader with Nat Steele (vibes), Mark Crooks (tenor sax), Colin Oxley (guitar), Mátyás Gayer (piano), Jeremy Brown (bass) and Mark Taylor (drums).
Thursday, July 11
DAVID GORDON TRIO: IN C (Hidden Rooms, Cambridge, 7.30pm, £20, cambridgejazz.org) Highly cultured and inventive pianist Gordon crosses boundaries of genre with his remarkable music, helped with the empathetic collaboration of Oli Hayhurst (bass), Tom Hooper (drums).
FOR THE DIARY
Sunday, July 14
BARB JUNGR (Venue 16, Ipswich, 2.30pm, £15, ipswich jazzandblues.com) Vivid song interpretations from the singer’s new album My Marquee, re-imagining songs associated with the legendary London venue. With Jenny Carr (piano), Richard Sadler (bass), Jonathan Lee (drums).
Thursday, July 18
CHRIS ALLARD’S MELODIC COLLECTIVE (Colchester Arts Centre, 7.30pm, £16.50, colchesterarts centre.com) Searching and atmospheric music played by a quintet led by guitarist/composer Allard, plus Robbie Robson (trumpet), John Turville (piano), Olí Hayhurst (bass), Will Glaser (drums).
Friday, July 19
STEELY JAZZ (St Peter’s By The Waterfront, Ipswich, 7.30pm, £15, 01473 225269, stpetersbythewaterfront.com) A new repertoire project, recasting the songs of Steely Dan for jazz quintet, with Chris Ingham (piano/vocal), Harry Greene (sax/guitar), Paul Higgs (trumpet), Geoff Gascoyne (bass) and George Double (drums).
Wednesday, July 24
THEO TRAVIS’ DOUBLE TALK (Stoke By Nayland Golf Club, 8pm, £20, 01787 211865, fleecejazz.org.uk) The saxophonist’s high octane innovative jazz, with underlying rock and ambient influences, with Theo Travis (sax), Pete Whittaker (organ), Mike Outram (guitar) and Nic France (drums).
Friday, July 26
DJANGOLIERS (Hunter Club, Bury, 7.30pm, £18, headhunterslive.org, 07799 650009) Delightful, swinging summer sounds in the Gypsy Swing style as the Djangoliers celebrate the music of Belgian guitar legend Django Reinhardt. With Simon Hurley (guitar), Robert Ford (guitar), Zak Barrett (clarinet) and Andy Staples (bass).
Sunday, July 28
ALICE ‘N’ WONDERBAND (Yalm Food Court, Norwich, 7.30pm, £16.50, norwichjazzclub.co.uk) International specialists in Bossa Nova and Musica Populàr Brasilera featuring Alice Bell (vocals), Luca Boscagin (guitar), Davide Mantovani (bass) and Davide Giovannini (drums).
Sunday, August 4
PAUL HIGGS’ PAVANE/TIM GARLAND & JASON REBELLO (Chelmsford Cathedral, 6.30pm, £30-£40, chelmsfordcathedral.org.uk/events) Writtle Jazz present a fundraiser for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Parkinson’s UK with the unique classical/jazz crossover project Pavane, led by trumpeter/composer Paul Higgs and featuring cellist Natalie Rozario, plus a world-class duo performance with saxophonist Tim Garland and pianist Jason Rebello.
FOLK with Chris Wilbraham: chris.wilbraham@tinyonline.co.uk
My singing partner Liz and I attended Bury Folk Festival on Saturday and can report that the event has continued its steady growth without sacrificing its enormous charm.
We arrived in time to see John and Lynn Ward sound checking on the Main Stage. We took in their set that included our favorites, Dockside Dandy, Sail On and Stornaway to Lowestoft.
We wandered off for refreshment as the sun kept the temperature rising and Petra Garrard’s voice soared through Nowton Park’s walled garden from the Main Stage. We checked out the Green Stage to find David Rumble enjoying singing a capella on stage with Dave and Linda of Sound Tradition, entertaining a heathy audience in this chilled out area, surrounded by stalls manned by local folk organisations. After chatting, we returned to the Main Stage, with ice creams to see Robin Torbitt perform. He earned his place in the line-up by winning The Milkmaid Songwriting Competition. MC Sue Marchant compared his work to Nick Drake and as he began his set, solo with an acoustic guitar, we realised she was right. He quickly won over the audience with his fresh-faced charm, beautiful voice and fingerpicking guitar style and they playfully shouted “traitor” when he announced a switch to electric guitar.
Next up was headline act Reg Meuross, with nine albums under his belt, the most well-established artist to have played at this festival. He delighted the crowd, getting them singing to Cry, the song’s first public rendition and included Good Morning Mr Colston and The Way of Cain, from his most recent album. We made our way back to the Green Stage to prepare for our short set as The Swans with our friend Debs. After delayng to avoid competing with the magnificent Glenmoriston Pipe Band, we played our set, scoring a cheeky encore and began rehydrating using Adnams Ale with friends.
A huge bowl of vegan food fuelled us up for the evening and we enjoyed the Wilswood Buoys set, including plenty of banter and a song about a drinking game.
As the evening cooled some left, but we moved close to the stage to heckle our friends Red Velvet as they closed the festival with their songs commenting on issues, such as The Four Freedoms and Refugees.
Reg Meuross clearly enjoyed himself: “It was refreshing to see the support for local artists and Gavin and Calvin the sound guys couldn’t have been more welcoming and helpful. The audience clearly felt the bonhomie too, it was such a warm friendly atmosphere.”
Stuart Green of Isle Av a Shanty had this to say: “The wonderful thing about folk festivals is the discovery of new acts and this year Fraser Morgan and the Great Catastrophe provided that experience for me. An energetic set of self-penned, socially conscious songs, delivered with joy and angst, setting the crowd alight. This may be a small festival but has the biggest heart and year after year keeps on delivering.”
The last word should go to Tony Phillips, who, with Gavin Mitchell, headed the organising crew who can look back on the day with great satisfaction.
“It was great to see so many people coming for the first time alongside the regulars and old friends. Musical highlights for me were rising star Robin Torbitt’s set and the Wilswood Buoys on the Main Stage with Mark ‘Spoons’ Howarth playing alongside Doghouse, plus the songwriting workshop from Penni, Bryan and Les from The Bridge on our Green Stage. It’s the spontaneous images of people letting their hair down that stays with me and pictures of dancers of all ages strutting their stuff at our Barn Dance regardless of the set moves will stay with me forever.’
Gig list:
Friday, July 5
Risbygate Sports Club, Bury St Edmunds, 8pm, Milkmaid Folk Club, Wickenwood. £12.
Hadleigh Folk Club, Ansell’s Centre, Hadleigh, 8pm, Gwendall Moele and Paul Riley, support from Chris King.£8.
Friday-Sunday, July 13-15
Ely Folk Festival, Stuntney Estate, Soham Road, Ely.
