Gabriel Garrick - The Roundabout of Life

Gabriel Garrick - Flugelhorn

I'd drawn him a few times before of course and heard a few tales but this was my first time with Gabriel Garrick's own tunes and to experience him as a frontman in his fleshy best. Last Sunday (5/5/2013) was my first visit to The Green Dragon in Croydon too, and it seemed long-overdue. It proved to be an excellent location, with a ample and laid-back crowd, who balanced and swapped weekend newspaper sections amongst each other with familiarity.
With its heavy air-conditioning conduit overheard it looked every inch the urban jazz den. An image that was shattered of course when the heavy drapes were opened and the sparkling May sunshine spilled in.



Sam Walker - Saxophone

It is always a strange experience when absorbing yourself  in the perceived darkness of Jazz whilst wallowing in full blown daylight. More than once Garrick mistook day for night and mixed the two up in his announcements. Despite some late night activity, none of the musicians looked too bleary eyed but poor Sam Walker arrived on the brink of the first tune, '(Birks Works) Insurance Blues' after negotiating the wonders of Croydon's road network.

Matt Ridley - Bass

It was great to hear/see Garrick playing the lead role, the only previous occasions I had drawn him was in Big Band action where he was very badly behaved along with most of the trumpets. He has perfected the naughty schoolboy look, a slight looseness to the lips that seem permanently wet, about to utter a cheeky quip or possessing that sparkling gloss after a quick freshen from his beverage. By no means a schoolboy in 'Just William' terms, there is courage and steel in his speech, never shy to cast his opinion or to take a stand.

Alan Jackson - Drums

My long suffering wife had given me special dispensation to be here, the Bank Holiday DIY jobs weren't going to do themselves after all. So Garrick generously gave me some time and spoke lucidly about his father's death and his new direction.

"I didn't live in my Dad's shadow but I'm so like him it wasn't necessary to take his space or place, I never wanted to push him out of the nest. It's nearly 18 months since dad's death and I've done more in that time than in the whole rest of my career. Now I'm thriving on a concoction of responsibility and freedom. I wasn't ready at the time, who is, but I haven't looked back since being thrown off the roundabout of life."

Will Bartlett - piano

To emphasise the mixture of the past and future in his life, old-hand Alan Jackson dominated on 'In a Mellotone' and then new-blood Matt Ridley excelled on bass during the third tune 'Someday my prince will come'. Jackson had reached such a high by the fourth, 'Skylark', that he had dispensed with his spectacles and was flying free.

I listened to the title track from one of his new albums 'Song For My Father' before leaving but it had been his 'Insurance Blues' that had piqued my interest and I'll be getting my hands on his other release 'Sunlight' before too long.

As I walked out the door I had a brief chat with the canny Ken Carter, we discussed the imminent refurbishment (and maybe loss of Jazz) at The Bull's Head. It struck me that venues like The Green Dragon need to be supported and encouraged more than ever, so we/they can nurture fresh original work.

On the way home my life stretched before me like the long list of Bank Holiday DIY jobs that awaited me. I wasn't too downhearted, after all, tomorrow is a new day and the Roundabout of Life already had a few surprises ready for me.

AL.

Georgia Mancio - Jazz's popular vote

Georgia Mancio

The public voted with their feet last Thursday (25/04/2013) at Twickenham Jazz Club by standing on them and applauding without constraint. In my short time as TJC's in-house artist this was the most positive response I have seen for any group. Sometimes you keep it simple, a trio, purity of voice, skill and intensity, the stars collide and BANG!

The performance had started much earlier in the day with a hot topic on the online agenda. Just that morning Big Bear Music had announced the nominations for their annual 'mainstream' British Jazz Awards (including TJC's Henry Armburg Jennings, and the imminent Julian Stringle). Despite not being nominated, tonight's guitarist Nigel Price had urged his friends to vote, citing it as a popular poll where the public had a chance to show their appreciation for once. He wrote,
 "The less we vote the more likely it is for the whole "jobs for the boys" mentality or cronyism to creep in."

He was challenged on this point by Jazz royalty's free spirit Gabriel Garrick
"Don't believe the hype!!
Awards only serve to further any existing exclusivity within any given area. They only reinforce more of the same dumb behaviour: that of encouraging blind following."

Nigel Price - Guitar

Nigel is never one to sit on the fence and his reasoning that followed was well balanced but unfortunately too long to reproduce, so here's a snippet,
"...it's still a totally open vote and if we get enough people to cast theirs then it could turn into a true representation of who and what musicians and non musicians alike find most worth applauding on a national scale.
What's wrong with that?"

Colin

Both had a point of course, Big Bear had pre-selected or chosen the nominations, so its wasn't entirely a free vote and yet here was a chance for our voice to be heard. An opportunity I grasped with both hands, well, at least my two digits on my laptop keyboard.

To metaphorically 'live or die' in front of an audience, Nigel Price has laid down the gauntlet this evening. With just three performers on the stage, there was nowhere to hide, although the mood lighting meant they operated like cold war spies in a purple tungsten glow. This was the cleverest of performances, full of subtleties, the trio tonight played their hands with a deftness that teased the crowd in front of them.

Larry Bartley - Bass

Georgia Mancio sat well back from the stage's edge, as though succumbing to an intolerance of 'The limelight'. This only pulled the audience forward and many of us sat with elbows on knees. Earlier in the week I had sketched the multi-instrumental-voiced singer Jan Ponsford for Mr Rainlore and Mancio's voice felt gentle in comparison. First impressions can be deceiving, it seems her power isn't like a wave that crashes over you but that lapping Mediterranean kind which casts the mind adrift into playful daydreams.

Nigel Price is a hard man to read visually, particularly this evening, he was flanked by the tall figure of Larry Bartley and willowy Mancio. This made him look like a grumpy garden gnome who was fishing for imaginary carp, an image that was totally dispelled once he reeled in the audience on the end of his guitar hooks. He looked happy. Excelling on Latin intricacies, like the samba styled Coots tune 'You go to my head'. His solo on 'That old black magic' was granted a standing ovation from TJC dude Colin amongst others.

Zoran Matic

I've drawn Larry Bartley before at Alex Hutton's Friday Nolias residency and knew I was in the company of a fellow artist, so I hope my drawings will find his approval. Larry and I weren't the only artists in attendance and I managed to get a quick sketch of an intense Zoran Matic.

Kelvin Christiane - Sax

Twickenham Jazz Club favourite Kelvin Christiane joined the trio for a superb Stanley Turrentine finale on Soprano and then chaos ensued. Price had earlier urged the public to vote for their heroes and his plea hadn't fallen on deaf ears. They stood and kept applauding until an encore was granted, confusion reigned because of Mancio's imminent Stansted flight to Germany and the Jazzahead Festival/Conference. She sacrificed her precious sleeping time and gave the people what they wanted.

Later that night a bewildered Nigel Price commented
"The crowd literally went mental!
It was a bit disconcerting in a way.
Very odd."
Well you asked for the people's opinion.
They voted for you, Georgia and Larry.

We still stand up for what we believe in!

AL.