Matthew Kilner – Tenor Sax
Dawid Regniak – Trumpet, Flugel Horn
Neil Birse – Piano
Pete Lowit – Bass
Richard (Ricky) Glassby – Drums
This was a great night of modern jazz and it was truly inspiring to see so many accomplished young musicians onstage. It was like coming home to hear once again the classic combination of trumpet and tenor sax, the two instruments complimenting each other so well. The rhythm section did a magnificent job of listening and responding as each solo built towards a climax, dropping down at first to a soft, spacious background and then gradually increasing in excitement and complexity.
Matthew Kilner was on excellent form and his Coltrane-like tenor sound was thrilling to hear, especially in the high register. Dawid Regniak’s trumpet melded effortlessly with the sax, giving the main tunes a bright and brilliant sound. He also produced a beautiful, mellow tone on his flugel horn in the ballad, My One and Only Love, Ricky Glassby created a suspenseful drum solo, leading into the lilting rhythms of Afro Blue, made famous by Mongo Santamaria and John Coltrane. His drumming throughout the evening was a joy to listen to. In equal partnership, Neil Birse played inventive and sensitive piano with his excellent ear for interesting chords and challenging rhythms, supported at all times by a great musician, Pete Lowit on double bass.
Other numbers included Miles Davis’s So What and Solar and BobbyTimmon’s Dat Dere, which hasn’t surfaced in Elgin for quite a while, if ever! The band gave this an excellent rendition and there were flashes of Art Blakey at times. It was the sort of gig where you constantly wished yours friends had been there too.
Moray Jazz Club 