Jazz in Hull a current information site and historic archive
Hulljazz
Originally launched by local musician and promoter Ken Ford in 1983 (see Archive) and is now embarked on it's 41st., consecutive season! Hulljazz runs an annual programme on alternate Tuesday evenings between September and July at the Goodfellowship Inn on Cottingham Road near to the University of Hull with a reputation for providing the best of local, regional, national and even international jazz musicians and bands. We also stage occasional events at the Albemarle Music Centre on Ferensway in Hull city centre in conjunction with Hull Music Hub
The Covid-19 pandemic devastated our plans for the 2020-21 season, and with restrictions eventually lifted we found ourselves picking up the pieces and looking for a new permanent venue. For the first few events of the 2021-22 season we lighted upon the Springhead Tavern in Anlaby, East Yorkshire, and the William Gemmell Ale House on Anlaby Road in Hull which sadly closed it's doors at the end of 2023. The Goodfellowship Inn is once again the current home of Hulljazz where regular programming continues.
Cancelled due to Covid
Live Review: Clark Tracey Quintet, Albemarle Music Centre, Hull
Martin Longley writing in www.jazzwise.com
TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2024
Martin Longley grabbed a front table to see Art Themen, Colin Steele, Andrew Cleyndert and Dave Newton manifest a classic old-school line-up...
Drummer Clark Tracey had an extensive tour set up, embracing trusty old players that he had been gigging with for decades. Your scribe was perversely pleased. Usually he would champion the 'new', but as it's been a long time since he'd caught the likes of Art Themen, Colin Steele, Andrew Cleyndert and Dave Newton onstage, he became quite excited. It's not that Tracey avoids keeping matters fresh anyway, as he's often adding his own originals to the set-list. It's also not clear how often Tracey does this nowadays, but in Hull he also included several compositions by his revered pop, Stan Tracey. Clark has been working hard to make his father's work available on Bandcamp.
The local Hull Jazz promoter has lately began collaborating with the Albemarle and its tutors/students, their tiered medium-sized auditorium being a fine location for a gig of this scale. Stan's 'Rainbow At The Five Mile Road' hailed from 1969, still sounding lively, Steele soloing up to the rafters, head tilted back, trumpet upright. The quintet's sound is brash and wide open, Cleyndert revealing a robust bass sound when soloing, loud and tough. Another Tracey senior tune followed, 'Euphony', from the 1950s, Themen soloing with only a walking bass for company, expressing a multiphonic yearning with his high flurries, Clark junior offering a subtly off-kilter skimming of a solo. As he's the band leader, there were to be ample drum spotlights during the two sets.
The hornmen each get to select a ballad to bring them centre-stage, so Themen goes for 'In A Sentimental Mood', exuding sensitive softness. Clark brings out 'Bit A Bittadose', using this Bobby Watson tune (for Art Blakey) to bring things forward a few decades. Bullish bass initiates a funk drive, and then the band swings hard.
Stan rears up once again in the second set, with 'A Funky Day In Tiger Bay', a soulful swinger that he used to play with the Hexad outfit. Steele's ballad choice is 'I'm Through With Love', less obvious than Themen's suggestion. Legs are braced, horn aloft again, as Steele's solos are bookended by divine bass and piano work inbetween. As the night nears its climax (Clark is keen to hit the hotel bar before closing time) 'St. Thomas' incorporates some spirited hand-drumming on the skins, Clark totally alone for this section, his colleagues eventually hopping back in. Surprisingly, there's a short encore of 'Cuddly', a bluesy contribution from the Stan songbook, a racer with a shooting tenor outburst.
As Hull Jazz managed to fill the venue quite nicely, this is a sign that some bigger-name artists could draw a larger audience out in this sometimes difficult city...
Jamil Sheriff and Ben Crosland kick off Jazz In Hull's 40th anniversary year
Martin Longley writing in www.jazzwise.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2023
Martin Longley anticipates the 40th anniversary of Hulljazz, with gigs by Jamil Sheriff's Five Gold Rings and Ben Crosland.
The Hulljazz organisation has been operating since 1983, with a steady stream of gigs that continues into their 40th anniversary year of 2023. Down the decades they've, like many similar outfits, adopted a wandering mission to settle into an ideal venue. Since the virus lockdowns ended, they've been ensconced at the William Gemmell Ale House, on the outskirts of Hull's city centre. This joint has the aura of an old social club, with a spacious music room to the rear, the kind of place where we'd usually find a trad jazz club. Instead, the Hulljazz folks are geared up towards a more mainline manifestation of the music, without much New Orleans stomping, but also not likely to be hosting the newer wave of frisky young Northern talent. That line travels from Leeds to York, not often making it as far as Hull, although the J-Night team that promotes the Hull Jazz Festival has booked a handful of gigs at new venue Social, on the trendsome Humber Street run. Shows by Arun Ghosh and Nubiyan Twist were pretty packed out with a crowd of many ages. Keyboardist Jamil Sheriff played with Ghosh, and a few months later he returned to Hull with his Five Gold Rings, for Hulljazz at the Ale House. Wednesdays remain the favoured night of Hulljazz.
Sheriff presented mostly original compositions, deliberately angled towards the retro-Blue Note classic style, and joined by Richard Iles (trumpet), Jim Corry (alto saxophone), Sam Quintana (bass) and Caroline Boaden (drums). Specifically, there were 12 tunes, penned during the Christmas of 2021. Sheriff kept the fluid alto and flügel out front, but still soloed liberally himself, on the versatile Nord keyboard, although primarily maintaining its core acoustic piano setting. The mostly Leeds-based band elected to perform down on the room's floor, giving them more space, and setting them closer to the audience. The stage itself sometimes feels a touch distant, and forces the artists into a huddle. 'Red Kite' was intended as a Latin tune, but in reality this influence was diluted, aside from the leader's own solos. A 'Speed Awareness Course' might actually exist, and here it had a classic 1950s Miles nature, sleek and sprightly, the horn solos chasing each other with an enthusiastic jostle. Sheriff often went into solo hyperventilation mode during the two sets, to no bad effect, particularly during 'Spiral Into Control' and 'Friends From The Eighties'.
Hulljazz was founded by musician Ken Ford (bass'n'banjo), its chief venue being the Goodfellowship Inn, quite close to the University Of Hull. Before that, Hulljazz began in the Piper Club, then the YPI Sports Club and the Dee Street Club. Ford passed onwards in 2016, and Dave Ellis (bass'n'tuba) has lately become the team's frontman. There was a brief period of using The Springhead Tavern in Anlaby, but the Hulljazz gigs soon gravitated to the William Gemmell Ale House, in September '21.
A month later, just before Christmas, the Ben Crosland Quartet were booked to appear, but saxophonist Rod Mason was taken ill, and the band switched to a trio. They were planning on a diverse repertoire distilled from multiple projects, but suddenly they had to become a standards combo. Dean Stockdale could be a contender for leader, now that they were a piano trio (along with a returning Boaden), this time performing up on the actual stage. Crosland's electric bass became a singing axe, often inhabiting an upper range, with its hollow body construction. Golden oldies swished by, such as 'It Could Happen To You' and 'Have You Met Miss Jones?', this latter given a gospel treatment, with Crosland soloing, plus subtle brushes from Boaden, and eventual decoration courtesy of Stockdale. Then there was the deeply inappropriate 'Sunny Side Of The Street' (frosted conditions had doubtless discouraged many potential attendees). Of course, Crosland managed to include an original towards the end, his minor blues 'Peter The Wolf', dedicated to valve trombonist Peter Maguire.
As we inch into 2023, the Hulljazz folks already have gigs booked up until at least April, with sessions happening on an approximately fortnightly basis. It's quite an achievement for a jazz promoter to weather four decades of consistent activity.
Hulljazz goes beyond its fourth decade, presenting winter trio gigs by John Etheridge and Fergus Quill
Martin Longley writing in www.jazzwise.com
MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2024
Martin Longley also catches mainstreamer Matt Smith, at the organisation's old Goodfellowship Inn stomping ground...
Now into its 41st year of continuous presentations, the Hulljazz promoters have been newly funded by Hull City Council and the Jazz North organisation, allowing them to book shows in a broader range of venues. This development came at exactly the right time, as it was announced only a few weeks ago that the William Gemmell Ale House, Hulljazz's regular venue since lockdown times, was being suddenly placed on the auction market.
Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge brought out his Trio North, featuring Ben Crosland (electric bass) and Tom Townsend (drums). The New Adelphi Club started out as a music joint in 1984, the year after Hulljazz formed. It remains the most significant venue in Hull, although most of its gigs are more in the rock, electronic, folk, country and dub zones. Hopefully, there will be more jazz soonish, as Etheridge did pretty well for a quiet and chilly Tuesday evening.
Cut free from a Softs (and even a Zappa) repertoire, Etheridge dove into standards, although not always the usual numbers from the usual genres. 'Careless Love' was relaxed and low volume, an easy going lightness imparted by the guitarist's ever-joking patter. A porch vibe was cast, with Townsend just using the sparse kit of snare, hi-hat and bass drum, mostly with brushes. Etheridge had a frisson of rock-blues to his tone when playing a solo 'Georgia On My Mind', some notes lingering with a soft fuzz. Red Mitchell's 'Fungii Mama' was taken at a fast clip, with Etheridge using a pedal that made his strings sound like a calypso steel pan. Following with 'Cold Cold Heart', a windswept Hank Williams prairie downer, illustrated how widely Etheridge will travel, and he even sang on this one, using an occasional whammy bar embellishment. John Scofield's 'Do Like Eddie' closed the first set, with the heaviest number yet, almost in jam band mode.
Etheridge opened the second half completely solo, with Charles Mingus and Dollar Brand tunes, slipping in some loop-work, then getting into Jeff Beck's 'Cause We've Ended As Lovers', chased by Tom Jobim's 'Insensatez'. This was one of the more varied covers sets possible, but Etheridge also topped off the night with his own slowie 'A Distant Voice', then Mel Tormé's 'Comin' Home Baby'. How many artists will hop from Tormé to Beck, Scofield to Red Mitchell, nowadays?
The Fergus Quill Trio came across from Leeds, appearing at the Albemarle Music Centre, right in Hull city centre, next door to Hull Truck Theatre. Not accustomed to public gigs, the residents of this distinctive cone-shaped building will hopefully make further live show bookings. Their upstairs rehearsal studio was quite filled, this time on a Thursday night. Bassman Quill concentrates strongly on original compositions, offering a wired-up power trio approach, capturing the audience via high skill, beaming extroversion and speed-stamina. His pardners are Nico Widdowson (piano) and Theo Goss (drums). Just these three concoct a sonic range beyond their number, particularly with their leader's deeply woody-resonant physical assault on the bass strings.
Widdowson enjoys a schizoid approach, between aggressive free-form jabbing and soft waltzing, humour indeed existing inside this jazz form. The avant swing switches tempo frequently, jackknifing into abstraction, as Goss makes a trebly snare tattoo ring. Then, Quill will take a weeping bowed solo, this sensitivity continuing into 'Amazing Grace', a rare 'cover'. This had emerged from their own 'Find Out', apparently never played in public previously. Space and fragmentation were tools on the piano, in a Monkish mode, leaping into a ragtime section. 'Heroes Return' featured further bass bowing, and then group singing for all. 'Take The "A" Train' came as a slow ballad surprise, then 'Intergalactic Thing' paid homage to Sun Ra, although its rock'n'roll progress also invoked Mose Allison and Jerry Lee Lewis. The night closed with the Music Centre's young Jazz Camp players invited to join in a reading of 'Blue Monk', enthusiastically directed from the bass by Fergus Quill.
The Matt Smith Quartet welcomed January in the Goodfellowship Inn, not far from The University Of Hull. This was the regular haunt of Hulljazz, pre-lockdown, so we now have something of a nostalgic return. Tenorman Smith played in one of the pub's two available function rooms, joined by Gary Gillyett (guitar). The first set was filled with completely predictable standards, but still enjoyable, while the second moved slightly sideways, involving some more intensified soloing, and some more spatial dynamism. ''Ain't Misbehavin'' featured just tenor and bassist Warren Jolly, in a very slow version, with a slight saxophone burr, then Gillyett joined for 'Sunny Side Of The Street', also in a very slow guise, with softly bending tenor inflections. The eleventh hour drummer replacement was Chris Sykes, who was highly impressive in the way he fitted in, as well as filling his playing with a wide range of percussive elements, particularly in the rock'n'roll or even Latin garage rock zones. They selected the Stan Getz style-treatment of 'Desafinado', with a fine conversation between guitar and drums.
Almost every number was taken at a very slow pace, but the second set contained accelerative properties. Whoa, we were now getting into the 1950s! 'Tenor Madness' was given a James Burton country flavour by Gillyett, who's clearly inspired outside of jazz itself, but 'Careless Love' brought back the gentle coasting aura. Again, this could be emanating from a country home, but dotted with groovin' drum tattoos.
It looks like all of these venues will be used again, in the newly itinerant Hulljazz calendar, each of them encouraging different aspects of the music, and with an emphasis on Tuesdays and Thursdays rather than the traditional Wednesday sessions at the auctioned Ale House.