Everyone knew they were in the presence of jazz royalty last night at Ronnie Scott’s. With Jimmy Cobb, the only surviving member of the Miles Davis band that created the most acclaimed and best selling jazz album of them all, Kind of Blue, in 1959, joined here by the great James Brown saxophonist/arranger Pee Wee Ellis; guitarist Grant Green Jr, the son of one of Blue Note records’ most beloved musicians; and organist Ike Stubblefield known for his work with Motown and more recently Cee Lo Green, the Jazz Heads began rompingly with Stanley Turrentine’s ‘Sugar’ and in honour of the Kind of Blue connection followed with ‘All Blues’. The DC-born drummer, Cobb, now a sprightly 84-year-old with trademark baseball cap pulled down over his forehead and sporting a neat goatee, was on fine form and for large portions of the set you couldn’t help but listen to his elegant sound as the primary source of the musical direction not withstanding the riches on offer from the other players. Those accents of his, that unfathomable subtlety a marvel to behold, and above all his timing are all part of his appeal. Ellis was gruffly genial and a funny presence at the mic between songs frequently making Green Jr smile. The guitarist, a big man wearing a natty trilby and a long striped shirt bonded well with the soulful Stubblefield on B3 and the pair knew how to take any given song to places you wouldn't have expected. Stubblefield’s bass pedal work was a significant factor, so it was like five musicians on the stage at times but listening to Cobb I was also transported to his trio work on records with Paul Chambers and Wynton Kelly, still too underrated by the critics; and of course inevitably to the man whose picture is on the wall, in one of the proudest of all spots in this great club, Miles Davis.
Set highlights for me included ‘Chicken Soup’, Ellis’ own tune, Pee Wee told us after quieting a ruddy-cheeked heckler, Dave Liebman renamed from earlier title ‘Chicken’, and an unavoidably smoochy take on ‘This Masquerade’. “George is one of my friends,” quipped Pee Wee, referring to Good King Bad Mr Benson himself. “He doesn’t owe me any money,” continuing a running joke he had begun when introducing 'Sugar'. Green Jr left the stage for what became a trio take on Sonny Rollins’ ‘Sonnymoon for Two’ where Ellis really soared and told a story on the saxophone only players of his calibre are able to.
Later upstairs at the Wednesday hard bop jam trumpeter Andy Davies prompted some impromptu terpischore on the tiny dance floor from the lively young crowd while Saleem Raman showed some true grit on drums and Ruby Turner’s pianist Reuben James showed the link between the upstairs jam and the Late Late Show downstairs by appearing in both spots as the evening wore on, featuring with the intuitive Kenny Dorham-influenced Davies upstairs, and later on performing the Schwartz/Dietz number ‘You and the Night and the Music’ with Brandon Allen host of the Late Late Show in the main room. James is a natural: born to play. Catch him at your earliest convenience. SG
Grant Green Jr above left and Ike Stubblefield of Jazz Heads who continue tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. Tickets www.ronniescotts.co.uk