Last night I saw Martin Taylor and tonight I dragged Mike to a free gospel thing, with Big Al Carson (nickname thoroughly deserved). Martin Taylor was virtuosic, of course. Firefox is telling me virtuosic isn’t a word, but whatever. But he’s just so .. safe. He won’t suddenly do something outrageous and unexpected, he’s perfectly content with the style he’s totally perfected. It’s understandable I suppose, though this being the fifth time I’ve seen him or whatever it’d be cool to be unsure of what I was going to hear. Courtney Pine was in the town playing Coltrane that night, I’d have like to have gone to that but instead but it sold out damn you small queens hall capacity. Martin Taylor is hardly a second best though.
And then Big Al Carson. It was a free event, listed in the Jazz & Blues festival calendar so we thought we’d take a look – turned out to be a gospel church service, in effect, though it was great fun. The place was packed full and by then end everybody was in the spirit. Hurrah, eh. A rousing rendition of ‘When the Saints.. to finish. Is it compulsory at every gospel-esque concertgig?