FRIDAY JAZZ WITH CHEESECAKE

Off last night to see the Brian Kellock Trio at the Queens Hall.
However, before the "main event" there was support from Cathy Rae.
I am not the world's biggest fan of vocalists (of any genre) so I'm maybe not the best person to comment. But lets just say I just didn't dig it.

However, Mr Kellock came out to a [sadly] modest but appreciative crowd and just lept right in with both feet. Starting off with a cover of the Benny Goodman classic Opus 1. But unlike Mr Goodman, the Brian Kellock Trio didn't make this "swing". No, no. They made it bop along at an accelerated pace, threw it in the air, slowed it down to a crawl while stripping it down to its component parts then put it all back together.

It sounded, for all the world, like one tune from the swing era had been taken on a musical journey through time and some of jazz's more popular later styles like bop, hard-bop, modal and free before being returned home to its own era.
Mr Kellock kept his audience interaction down to the bare minimal - no bad thing given the set was only one hour fifteen long and there wasn't a moment to spare on non musical verbiage.
However, when he introduced the band (Kenny Ellis on bass and Stuart Ritchie on drums) and announced that they would be playing a selection of bop numbers it was enough to cheer the cockles of at least one listener.
One particular favourite was their version of the Dexter Gordon classic "Cheesecake". Almost worth the ticket price alone.
Benny Golsons "Stablemates" was again given the treatment of being "deconstructed", at some points to a couple of notes or phrases. There were a few instances during the evening when Kellocks approach was similar (to my mind) of Django Bate's recent tribute to Charlie Parker.
The set flew in too quickly. But after a show of appreciation the trio came out for one more to be joined by Graeme Stephen on electric guitar for a blues that sounded very Kenny Burrell(ish).
Whatever Kellock's reasons are for not getting his new album out, if the music last night was a taster of what to expect, the sooner he gets things sorted out the better.
The music was excellent and the trio were playing in front of a "home crowd". But [sadly] the venue was only about half full. Jazz IS a minority interest these days. I still can't quite get my head round the claim that a "major" label is interested.