Sunday 6th December is going to be another of those days when the discerning Glasgow jazz enthusiast will need to be in more than one place at once.
Tommy Smith’s Youth Jazz Orchestra are playing at the RSAMD, starting at 7.30pm. Their personnel varies from year to year, but they’re generally pretty good even without the listener making any allowance for their age.
However, the main attraction for me is the Paul Booth Quintet with Ingrid Jensen (ie a sextet), who are performing at the Recital Room at the City Halls, starting at 8pm. Booth has done a lot of work with rock musicians such as Steve Winwood, but also has serious jazz credentials. He was the tenor player on Ryan Quigley’s Laphroaig-ian Slip, and played here a few months back as part of Michael Janisch’s excellent Purpose Built Band. The little I’ve heard by Canadian-born trumpeter Ingrid Jensen suggests that she’s very good indeed. If you’ve heard the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s fine if slightly pointless remake of Miles Ahead from a few years back, she was the one given the thankless task of taking on the Miles Davis role. She acquitted herself well, largely because she made no effort to imitate Davis. An added attraction is the presence of Phil Robson on guitar, who’s best known for his work in Partisans and in Christine Tobin’s band. Tickets and more information are available from the Glasgow Concert Halls web site.
If you’re in the mood for more jazz later in the evening, you can pop along to the 78 in Kelvinhaugh Street to catch the regular Sunday night session lead by pianist Tom Gibbs.
Byas'd Opinion 