Saturday 21 November 2009

Here we go then - this is my first attempt at a blog. It's taken me this long to work out what a blog is. Anyway I've crawled out of the garden (away from the dry stone wall I'm building) and into the 21st century. So here we are, Kevin and I, almost 10 years down the line - that's 10 years in February 2010, our first jazz gig together, and 10 years in April when we became an 'item' as they say. So what has happened this last ten years, jazzwise? In a nutshell, 3 CDs, nice reviews, Michael Parkinson, Humphrey Lyttelton, Jazz Services funding, gigs from Scotland to London, lots of festivals, a few trips to Spain, Kev swapping from saxophone to guitar. But hey, you probably know all that lot already.

For the benefit of those of you who haven't heard me prattling on to about this, after almost 10 years of chasing the gig, we played to a full house at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield last Saturday. They don't often book local players, not least because they reckon, not unreasonably, that nobody's going to pay £13 to go and see Julie Edwards & Kevin Dearden, when they catch 'em for free at the Head Of Steam or other local jazz spots. Fair point, and we've had to deal with that one before - Wakefield Jazz in particular comes to mind (pretty good turn-outs there too).

The last time we played for Huddersfield Jazz was in March 2000, I think, when they were based at the Crag Rats venue in Holmfirth - it was one of the first ever 'serious' jazz gigs I'd done after Leeds College and one of the earliest with Kev. Prior to that I count Scarborough Jazz Club - me and Andy Cholerton (on keys) did a gig with Dennis Hitch and John, I think it was, on bass, in summer 1999 in the Club's temporary home in the Red Square bar at Beiderbecke's, when Mike and Marion were away in Greece. I also count Hulljazz in Feb 2000 - Ken Ford was brave enough to give me a go, with Andy C on piano, Richard Hammond on bass and Chris Sykes on drums - man, that seems a long time ago. That was the day I met my soon to be close friend and tireless promotor of the music, Gerry Moore, or Gerry Leaflets as he is sometimes known.

Anyway, back to the LBT. Weren't the guys fantastic (Hugh, Geoff, Eddie, Kev)? We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Our good buddy, Dave K, a guitarist, one of Kevin's ex-1900 Club members, and a real sweetheart, has sent me a review of the gig etc, which I have included below, because it made my day when I read it. Since then our friend John has also added his very kind ten penneth.

December is buzzing with Christmas party gigs for our function band Party Animals, so I'll talk to you again when the turkey (or the nutloaf) is all gone.

Julie **********************************************************************************************
DK 21/11/09

"Well, I've known Kev and Julie for about 7 years. They already had a great set in those days but their musicianship and performances have just kept improving. If you're looking at this site then you'll probably know the biogs and history. These are people who don't stand still. It's no surprise they now play top jazz festivals, get airplay from venerable broadcasters and are are planning their expansion into Europe any time now!

The latest gig I caught was at the excellent Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield and we had to squeeze in to the back of a packed and attentive house so full that it was forced to turn people away! This has long been a venue for 'serious' jazz and attracts an audience which is accustomed to fine performers. What we saw is a group of musicians who are all great players in their own right (check out the virtuoisic Ed Barnwell on piano for example) who work as one under subtle leadership from the singer.

The material is in a modern jazz/latin vein but that's too simple a label. Every song they treat is re-examined, re-arranged, re-written to unearth new character. The sound of the band is fresh too: Julie's voice tactfully avoids the jazz clichés and can have a fresh airiness that implies folk or pop or a gritty low-down feel that would sit happily in rock. Though the history is there too when it's needed. Kev's guitar bites and shimmers paying his dues to Clapton as much as to the jazz guitar world.

Kev and Julie also happen to be good people who've given me and many others far too much help and support to list here. I think that's what comes across in their performance is a real generosity of spirit. The audience saw that too and I don't think I saw anyone leave without a smile on their face."

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JTA 26/11/09

"I had the great pleasure recently of attending a jazz gig at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield. The band playing that night was the Julie Edwards/Kevin Dearden Quintet and what a wonderful performance they gave to the packed house. Julie and I have been friends for over twenty years now and in that period I have watched her grow as a vocalist and musician; it has been a source of great delight to me. Then she teamed up with Kevin in the year 2000 or thereabouts and it was a dream team as far as I was concerned. Both Julie's singing and Kevin's playing on the alto saxophone and their sensitive treatment of a song were reminiscent of Billie Holiday and Lester Young. For those of you who might think that too high praise, just listen to Billie and Lester on some of those earlier Basie recordings and then tell me I'm wrong.

Imagine then, how flabbergasted I was when Kevin said he was giving up on saxophone and going over to guitar. "It won't work!" I said, "It can't work!" I reiterated and I honestly didn't think it would; I didn't think they could get that same sort of feel for the song and I think initially, Julie had some doubts. Kevin, however, said right from the outset that he thought that the same feeling of intimacy between the two voices (that of Julie and the guitar) could be brought about. Thankfully, Kevin, being the consummate musician that he is and no stranger to hard work and perseverance has with the aid and tremendous contribution from his partner Julie, made the full transition to his new instrument and the two of them are producing a compelling brand of music which has great warmth and sensitivity as well as a great sense of fun. All of these qualities were on display that night in Huddersfield and let's not forget the tremendous rhythm section who supported the two main protagonists and gave an even greater depth to a wonderful two hours of music.

Before I bring this article to a close I would just like to express my gratitude to Kevin. For many years I have tried my hand with a few different musical instruments, but the one I really wanted to try was saxophone. It didn't really matter to me whether it was a soprano or any of its bigger brothers, so long as it was a saxophone. It was Kevin who made a lovely alto available to me and further to that he gave a lot of his precious time to give me lessons and still, to this day, goes out of his way to give me further tutelage whenever he can. I wish I could say that I have become a brilliant saxophonist but such is not the case. No blame can be attached to Kevin though. I think it's more to do with my lack of talent; nevertheless I have improved a little. I still enjoy it enormously and I am forever grateful to Kevin for giving me the opportunity."

Want to comment or add to this blog? julieedwardsmail@tiscali.co.uk