Beginning with a polite “good evening, how are you” this was an ultra local gig for hard bop saxophonist Leo Richardson who lives nearby, a mere seven minute walk away. The place was full. Very excited, he self-described his state exclaiming: “So many people… everyone making the effort to come”. Blessed with a wry and easy, ironic, wit he added “If you haven’t been – come again.”
He walked in and played two sets. The club operates every other Sunday downstairs in the basement of a very large brewpub – they make their own ale on the premises – that many years ago was an O’Neills Irish themed chain pub and before that a very large furniture store. I think it was even squatted for a while.
Speaking to Leo briefly before the gig he said his usual drummer was Joel Waters who is currently touring with Olivia Dean. Waters used to play with Sultan Stevenson and is on the pianist’s first two albums Faithful One and El Roi. But Leo and Muswell Hill sticksman Dave Ingamells go way back. And during the gig later he said Dave was in LR’s band in music college days “but then he stopped answering the phone.”
Ingamells was on good form, he’s basically an Art Blakey type player. I heard him with Ethan Iverson at the Vortex the day after St Stephen’s Day last year.
‘Short Story Long’ an original of Richardson’s was the first tune.
Albums of the sax player’s – who is the son of prog rockers If bass guitarist Jim Richardson – last heard by this blog at Mayank Patel’s Hampstead Jazz Club 5 years ago – so far are 2017’s The Chase and Move that followed two years later. From The Chase we heard ‘Blues for Joe,’ right at the end, a scampering uptempo number, and ‘Elisha’s Song,’ dedicated to Leo’s niece when she was a baby – and present in the room.
A live version of ‘Elisha’s Song’ from 2017 and also featuring Radiohead loving Rick Simpson.
Playing a vintage looking tenor saxophone, some Coltrane A Love Supreme chords were folded in during the course of the long tenor sax solo in the first tune. Simpson comped elegantly on the little Yamaha upright and was soon extemporising off piste interestingly. He’s a Radiohead loving geezer and received acclaim for Everything All of the Time: Kid A Revisited released in 2020. Chatting a bit earlier to him about Ireland, he said his wife is from County Mayo – the Westerners on the football front won the Sam Maguire earlier yesterday after a 75-year wait – and enthused about Joey Calderazzo when I brought his name up as the band had just played ‘Michael’ Leo’s tribute to Michael Brecker, Joey of course a long time pianist with the great one.
There was a soul jazz and hard bop flavour to proceedings. A bespectacled Leo, wearing a light jacket and dark shirt with his grey hair slicked back, played a tribute to Joe Henderson based on the In ‘n’ Out tune ‘Serenity’ called ‘Serendipity.’ There was lovely counterpoint during the piano solo on this one. A bouncing feel to it ensued. And the quartet began to swing. Richardson started quoting a chunk of ‘Stranger in Paradise.’ Great jabbing from Rick added some welly. Another quote snuck in was a bit of ‘Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise.’
The next one LR told us was written for his mum, present in the room, that resulted in an “aw” from the audience. “You haven’t heard it yet” quippeth our man from Finchley. It was called ‘The Phoenix’. To be fair with the best will in the world it proved a bit too meandering in the piano part this time around, more classical perhaps, but the bass lines were pulsating and the bearded Whitford started to assert himself more.
The audience knew how to clap in the right places which is not always something civilian punters unaccustomed to jazz rites and rituals have a baldie about outside other proper jazz spots. So that helped the atmosphere ever so much. People listened, didn’t mooch about too much, slam doors too loudly, order a Pepperoni on Deliveroo while on speakerphone much, or yak too noisily. A bit of quiet talk is OK but sometimes people just start gale force yelling at one another as if fighting for supremacy over the house sound is the most paramount preoccupation of all.
Ingamells didn’t solo too much but at this stage of the evening his break out bit of paradiddlery worked well. His fills reliably throughout banished any possible ennui that occasionally bedevils a gig. Longueurs there were few.
The ballad to return to this once again called ‘Elisha’s song’ certainly stood out. He said he was lucky to have 4 nieces. This one was written for Elisha when she was 8 months old. The tenderness of the main melody was strongly conveyed.
Leo is going into the studio next in November. He said tunes are inspired by “people, usually experiences or something profound, things I love and I love saxophone and I love jazz.”
Some people were eating the pleasant smelling food so the place had a good supper club feel although the lights were turned on in the audience. But I noticed some tea lights being put out on tables as the gig progressed. It’s usually better when the audience is in the dark. I think all the tables were taken. So about 80-120 people roughly were present which is excellent and the busiest I have seen the spot after a few earlier visits. The club is run by Hammond organ player Ed Bentley and Snowboy loving fan and organiser Nick Phillips. Ed is playing the 606 in Chelsea tomorrow night.
The Brecker tribute was a blistering way to end the first set. It involved a great time switch from the drummer that helped keep the thing interestingly choppy.
The boogaloo ‘Misbehaving’ inspired by LR’s young kids worked well and the peace loving ‘Halcyon’ was another pick of the originals. Walking bass on this wasn’t too forced. What a great lead melody. It’s a warm and open ended piece and quite swinging this one.
‘Our Man in Paris’ was dedicated to tenor saxophonist and actor Dexter Gordon (who was in Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight and Penny Marshall’s wonderful Awakenings based on Oliver Sacks’ book). Leo mentioned how much he liked the album Go.
“When I was 17 I had a portable CD anti shock player in the car,” he recalled. Remember those he quizzed the audience. A heckler said he remembered one with a cassette to which Richardson replied good humouredly “I’m not that old – even with the grey hair.”
Simpson, before introducing ‘Can’t Cook’, whispered that he was crouching “in the foetal position or was that the faecal position” as he angled over from the stool
The sheet music fell off the piano later during one piece – it didn’t seem to matter. But when it did Rick seemed to come alive even more. He spoke a bit later when asked to by Leo. He joked he was crouching “in the foetal position or was that the faecal position” as he angled over from the stool to take the mic and the mick. His tune was ‘Can’t Cook’ which has an ingenious use of a bit of silence in the syncopated bit and a very lovely melody that recalled Brad Mehldau’s Brahms obsession. The rubato and hanging silences kept us guessing.
They have been playing together for 14 years “you get less for murder” noted the saxist and Leo reminisced how they had met initially at some restaurant in Borough Market.
Last number, finishing up about 10.15pm, was the brisk Joe Henderson tribute ‘Blues for Joe’ that Leo has recorded as mentioned earlier. All in all then? Glad I came, even better than I remember hearing Richardson before. Like the terminator, I’ll be back. As I am sure will he.
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