This was the first show in the latest residency by The Near Jazz Experience who will be playing the first Tuesday of the month in the Library Bar at Chats Palace in Homerton for the next couple of months at least and if you are anywhere near Homerton then this is a very cool space to see The Near Jazz Experience playing in. This is not the big room that used to hold all sorts of gigs in the 1980's by the bands associated with 96 tapes or other Hackney based acts, but in the smaller bar that was nicely packed for this gig.
As ever the Near Jazz Experience are Simon Charterton on Drums, Mark Bedford on Bass and Terry Edwards on everything else, also like usual I will be following Terry's instruction to title the pieces as seems fitting, so some will have the right title, but most will have the right title for the night not the real title.
They opened with the twin sax attack of Booker On Brooksby as Terry played his alto and tenor saxophones like he'd just pulled up in an MG, this was fluid funky and got everyone grooving in there seats especially once Terry had whipped his maracas out for the finale.
Terry switched to Clarinet for the rather spiritual sounding Raga For The Marshes that had Mark Bedford playing some good squelchy bass like his football boots kept getting stuck in the sodden mud on the marshes once more.
Terry stayed on the clarinet for there magical cover of David Bowie's 5 Years that had a very Cannonball Adderley early 60's feel to it and had those of us who recognized it singing along to it.
Clapton Greyhounds saw Terry switch to Alto Sax as Simon Chartertons drums seemed to be haring away from us, like he was rushing around the dog track that used to be a few hundred yards away, as the Egg shakers felt like the applause for the dogs racing over the finish line once more.
Andy's Greek Blues had a very European feel to the way Terry's soprano sax line weaved in and out of the super funky bassline with all the cool of a late-night shofar driving across the marshes in a Rolls Royce phantom.
They slowed things down on Eulogy For Millfields Stadium as the Mute trumpet had a very forlorn Chet Baker style to it's evocation of the stadium built on a slag heap that was an early home for Clapton Orient.
The twin sax attack was back for Harald The Gearbox Genius, that sadly had no special South African inflections needed to bring back the magical spirit of the work he carried out down by Shepherds lane, even though this was so smooth it was almost like they had a special synchromesh fully fitted and totally tuned up.
Matchbox brought back the mute trumpet to sound more like a baleful car horn than the parping of a toy car as Mark Bedford's bass rumbled like hot wheels on tarmac.
The first set concluded with West Of The Lea that was something like a phenomenon as Terry switched between his Sax and maracas to help take us all over to Funky Town in time to listen to DJ Sugar Lips on the wheels of steel during the intermission.
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The second set opened with The Knife slicing through Chats Palace like it ought to be on the soundtrack of a slasher film being shown in the cinema part of the palace as the Soprano Sax stabs and slashes as they build towards the messy maraca led denouement.
For The Marshes Masquerade Terry's twin saxes almost work like opposing teams shouting at each other as Mark Bedford lays bass and egg shaker like he's rattling down the wings about to attack Simon Charterton's goal.
There was something downright dirty about the sound of Wicked In The Wick that sounded like it would soundtrack the lunch time strippers on Morning Lane before the pub got turned into a co-working space of course, back when you really could get wicked round here.
Terry's Clarinet sounded so blue on Lesney's lament a tune that was crying out to be the soundtrack to a good video of Lesney's finest products lined up both in and out of their respective matchboxes down on the banks of the river Lea.
They picked up the pace on Speed Trap that had the odd moment of shock in it, as you realized that the police had once again set up the trap as you drive over the River Lea onto the marshes, they were certainly going above the current 20 mph speed limit and would need some real charm to get away with it, but the Near Jazz Experience always sound like they can get away with almost anything.
Conservancy had some alto sax lines that felt like ripples on the river Lea, as a barge has gone by, as you gaze across the marshes trying to remember how it was before the Olympic stadia blotted the horizon.
Designer Gear A Go Go should have sound tracked an ad for all the chi chi boutiques that have turned Morning Lane into the Bond Street of East London in ways that good ole Andy The Greek would never have believed when he had his garage there in the 70's and 80's.
As ever they closed with the bands masterful re-imagining of Voodoo Chile that put a smile on pretty much everyone's faces as they implored everyone to buy more of the bands tins and albums from the merch stall I was sitting in front of. As ever the Near Jazz Experience really put on a great show.
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