Dave Newton Trio, The Hive Music & Media Centre, Shrewsbury, 20/02/2016.

Pianist Dave Newton is one of the UK’s best loved musicians, a fact that was reflected by the official sell out at this Shrewsbury Jazz Network event. Such is Newton’s popularity with jazz aficionados that tonight’s audience included a substantial number of first time visitors to SJN’s promotions at The Hive. It is to be hoped that they enjoyed the experience and will return again to this thriving series of jazz concerts.

A supremely skilled mainstream and bebop soloist Newton has collaborated with such well known jazz musicians as saxophonists Alan Barnes, Art Themen, Don Weller, Dave O’Higgins and Iain Dixon, trumpeters Guy Barker and Conte Candoli, guitarists Colin Oxley, Martin Taylor and Jim Mullen, bassists Andy Cleyndert, Alec Dankworth, Mick Hutton and Dave Green and drummers Clark Tracey, Steve Brown, Dave Barry, Matt Skelton and the late Allan Ganley. He has also distinguished himself as a superb accompanist to vocalists and has worked with singers such as Stacey Kent, Claire Martin, Heather Cairncross, Tina May, Carol Kidd, Annie Ross and Marion Montgomery.

As I recall I first encountered Newton’s playing some time back in the 1990s at a storming gig at the now sadly defunct Birmingham branch of Ronnie Scott’s where he was part of a quintet co-led by Barker and O’Higgins that also featured Dankworth plus drummer Ralph Salmins. In more recent years he’s been a regular at the Titley Jazz Festival in Herefordshire, the popular successor to the Appleby Jazz Festival. Titley staged five successful events between 2010 and 2014 before ceasing due to the long term illness of organiser David Masters.

Many of Newton’s associates from that list in the paragraphs above were part of the “Titley Family” of musicians who returned each year for the festival in a variety of different small group line ups. I saw Newton perform many times at Titley, often as part of the “Three Daves” rhythm section alongside messrs. Green and Barry as they supported a variety of horn soloists. One unexpected, and fondly remembered, highlight was his intimate but surprisingly spirited duo performance with bassist Mick Hutton in the early Sunday morning slot at the 2011 festival.

At Titley Newton had use of a grand piano but at Shrewsbury he was obliged to use an electric keyboard. Born in Renfrewshire, Scotland but now based in Bath Newton brought a ‘regional’ rhythm section to this gig, the popular Midlands based team of double bassist Tom Clarke-Hill and drummer Miles Levin, both regular performers at The Hive. However this was no ‘one-off’ meeting, Newton had worked regularly with the pair before, backing guest soloists at Cheltenham Jazz Club - and it showed. From the beginning the rapport between the musicians was obvious and the balance between them ‘just right’. A sense of fun and musical adventure infused their explorations of a dozen or so standards over the course of two absorbing sets. I’m grateful to the SJN committee for reserving me a front row seat which gave me a great view of all three musicians, but particularly of Newton with his brilliant keyboard technique.

The trio commenced with the standard “Like Someone In Love”, their adventurous rhythmic and harmonic approach resulting in absorbing and engaging listening with Newton’s left hand patterns exhibiting considerable inventiveness. With Levin commencing on brushes solos came from Newton and Clarke-Hill, the latter a highly accomplished bass soloist with a big, meaty tone and an admirable dexterity. He was given plenty of opportunities to demonstrate his considerable skills over the course of the evening.

David Raskin’s tune “Laura” was given a Latin-esque treatment with Newton placing great emphasis on the rhythmic possibilities, playfully developing his solo out of a left hand vamp. As evidenced by his duo performance with Hutton at Titley Newton likes to enjoy a close musical rapport with his bass players and his delight at playing with Clarke-Hill was obvious throughout tonight’s performance. The bassist demonstrated his soloing skills again here before a second Newton solo, a supremely swinging affair that saw the pianist singing quietly, but joyously, along with his solo, not something I’d spotted him doing before from half way back in a marquee at Titley but now eminently noticeable from my front row seat. I found this display of obvious enthusiasm charming and highly refreshing.

Johnny Green’s “Moonlight In Vermont” was introduced by a lengthy passage of unaccompanied piano before Clarke-Hill and Levin entered the proceedings, the latter deploying a combination of brushes and mallets. The drummer later picked up his sticks as the music gathered momentum and took on a more obvious jazz feel before coming full circle with a solo piano outro.

Despite his rather academic appearance Newton has a sharply developed sense of humour, something that shone through on the trio’s playful take on Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “So Danco Samba”. The leader’s facial expressions during his vivacious exchanges with Clarke-Hill’s bass and later Levin’s drums were an absolute treat. 

Announcing Johnny Mandel’s tune “Emily” ( the title music from the film “The Americanisation of Emily”) Newton declared that the trio would play it “in our own way”. This was a demonstration of the gentler side of the band with its extended solo piano intro, melodic bass solo and sympathetically brushed drums.

The first set then ended on an up-tempo note with a swinging arrangement of “Secret Love” which featured Clarke-Hill stating the melody over Newton’s piano vamp before embarking on his solo. Newton has always enjoyed including quotes from other tunes in his solos, something he regularly indulged in at Titley. During his feature here I spotted “I Get A Kick Out of You”, and was that really the “Bonanza” theme? Elsewhere there was a vigorous series of exchanges between the leader’s keyboards and Levin’s drums as the trio sent the capacity crowd into the break feeling very happy.

Set two featured more of the same beginning with an audacious take on “ The Surrey With The Fringe On Top” featuring Clarke-Hill’s high register bass, Newton’s blues inflected soloing and Levin’s sparky drum breaks.

More humour from Newton when announcing Rodgers & Hart’s “My Romance” - “it goes like this, well it does now!”. This was an arrangement that saw the trio moving up and down the gears with Levin moving from brushes to sticks and with solos from Clarke-Hill and Newton,  the latter including a quotes from the Gershwins’ “They All Laughed”. Meanwhile Clarke-Hill briefly flourished his bow for the only time on the coda.

Newton cleverly developed Sammy Fain’s “Alice In Wonderland” from a repeated single note, gradually and subtly building melodic and rhythmic layers with the help of bass and drums with solos coming from the leader and Clarke-Hill.

A second Rodgers & Hart song, “Where Or When”, featured Newton at his most animated, the pianist briefly standing up to play during a particularly feverish solo. With a packed house full of supportive listeners it was the ideal opportunity for the musicians to let themselves be transported by the music.

The performance concluded with the trio’s version of Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Darn That Dream”, again introduced by a passage of unaccompanied piano. Newton is an acknowledged expert at playing in this context and has recorded a number of albums in the solo piano format. With subsequent sympathetic support from bass and brushed drums it appeared that the evening was going to end on a quiet note but a take on “Luck Be A Lady Night”, effectively an encore despite the trio not actually leaving the stage, raised the energy levels once more as the trio finally bowed out to a great reception from the enthusiastic Shrewsbury audience.

I was surprised by just how much I’d enjoyed this performance. It was the first time I’d seen Newton play for a while and one of the very few occasions that I’d witnessed him playing an electric keyboard.  My ‘ringside’ seat gave me a brilliant opportunity to study his technique at close quarters and fully appreciate the skill and inventiveness of his playing. Clarke-Hill and Levin both seemed to relish playing with such a master and both were right on top of their game.

Despite the all standards programme the trio found plenty of fresh things to say both individually and collectively and this was a truly interactive collaborative effort. One didn’t get the impression that these were rote arrangements with equally rote solos. Instead a genuine spirit of fun and musical adventure seemed to imbue these explorations, something encouraged by the knowledgeable and appreciative audience.

All in all an excellent evening for SJN with the future of jazz looking bright in the town.