DanaMeilana 6
JazzNBelfast
Available via www.scottflanigan.com ***1/2
The debut of the DanaMeilana6, the band name borrowed from the first names of singer Dana Masters and saxophonist Meliana Gillard with a retro jazz-lingo integer for company, a studio album made up mainly of relatively familiar standards that include a vocal version of Wayne Shorter’s ‘Black Nile’, popularised by Gregory Porter on his debut Water; bebop jammers’ delight ‘A Night in Tunisia’ (Masters pronouncing ‘Tunisia’ in the way her fellow Americans do); and Mingus’ ‘Nostalgia In Times Square’. But there’s also some original writing here, provided particularly by the new Belfast scene’s pianist of choice Scott Flanigan and his appealing "stop/start" syncopater ‘N11’, a number that slightly recalls the attractive style of Victor Feldman, pianist with Miles Davis just before the Second Great Quintet era began. Trumpeter Linley Hamilton joins New York tenorist Meilana Gillard, now a strong part of the scene to atmospheric effect in the front line, while singer Dana Masters is gospelly soulful and in command backed sympathetically on 'My Heart's Desire' for instance by Flanigan with bassist Carl Harvey and Human drummer Stephen ‘Dakiz’ Davis stoking the coals. The city’s jazz scene is on the rise at the moment after the success of the recent Jazz Day last month and the Brilliant Corners festival earlier in the year in a snow-blanketed Belfast. This sextet has been spreading strong roots at McHugh’s pub in Queen's Square and Bert’s Bar in the Merchant Hotel and elsewhere for some time, and captures a scene on the cusp ’n Belfast, ready for much more quality jazzin’ to come. SG