October Gigs, Part Four: Hailey Tuck

Hailey Tuck

The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall

21.10.2018

Sometimes, it happens like this...

I 'discover' a singer by chance, investigate their tour dates and find out they are appearing locally, in the very near future!

That is exactly how I happened to be in The Crypt on a Sunday, attending an afternoon featuring excellent and varied acts as part of the Middlesbrough Jazz Weekender.

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This was Middlesbrough's first jazz festival since 1978 - which was held at Ayresome Park. I was fortunate to be able to share a table with two very nice ladies, one of whom had been at the 1978 event and had just returned to going to jazz shows following the death of her husband a year or so ago.

I enjoyed the sets by Aurora and the Ushaw Ensemble, both of which featured the more experimental side of jazz, but it was my original mission which brought me the most pleasure.

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Hailey Tuck is currently one of music's best-kept secrets, but that will not be the case for much longer. Her debut album, Junk, is simply wonderful.

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Think Gatsby; think flappers; think the Roaring Twenties. This is the world inhabited by Hailey Tuck.

The songs are well-chosen and include a 1920s-style version of The Kinks' Alcohol, a fine song its own right, but one that is given a whole new twist, Tuck-style.

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Hailey's set was fresh, original and uplifting. I will certainly be keeping a close eye on her tour dates.

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Find out more over at Hailey's official website.

October Gigs, Part Three: Dr Feelgood, Heather Peace

Dr Feelgood

Georgian Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees

19.10.2018

It has been a while since I last saw Dr Feelgood. On that occasion, a disappointingly sparse audience rattled around the Middlesbrough Theatre. I don't know why there weren't more people there but I do recall it being a trend at the time.

This time the Teesside locals were out in force in a packed Georgian Theatre. Given the name, the band had apparently been expecting a gentile, all-seated venue and they were very pleasantly surprised to see the most vibrant of Stockton's intimate venues provide an all-singing, all-dancing crowd. Despite being lively, the crowd was very well behaved (apart from the occasional drunk, there rarely is at the Georgian Theatre).

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The evening had started well enough with local punk band Johnny Seven warming everyone up in frantic and loud fashion. After 40 years they have finally put out an album!

Dr Feelgood are never likely to disappoint. Yes, there are no longer any of the original members in the band, but their ability to put on an evening of good old British rhythm and blues is never in question.

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The tempo started off high and dropped very occasionally for a slower number or two, before reigniting to burn as brightly as ever.

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The sing-a-along hits were all present and correct: Roxette, Milk and Alcohol, All Through the City, Going Back Home...there was even a pulsating encore of Route 66.

Who wouldn't feel good after such an evening?

Heather Peace

Arc, Stockton-on-Tees

20.10.2018

Another new act for me, as I came towards the end of a gig-packed October.

I expected Arc to packed to the rafters but there were plenty of seats left unfilled, for some reason.

The support from Samantha Durnan was very good and I recognised key personnel from Serinette.

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Heather Peace gave a passionate performance that was well-received by the audience. The only blot on the evening's entertainment was the string of people in the balcony area who insisted on talking throughout the evening (a growing problem at gigs and cinemas, of course). Why do they bother coming out?

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Anyway, I would definitely like to see Heather Peace again next time she is town.

October Gigs, Part Two: Dawn Landes

Dawn Landes

The Basement, York

16.10.2018

A new singer and a new venue; a rare double for me.

The Basement is an intriguing venue, situated directly beneath the City Screen Picturehouse cinema. With a seated capacity of 100 it is a venue for serious music fans, which suited me just fine.

I spoke with a couple of regulars who were seated next to me. They know their music well and we shared a lot of information on singers and venues. We had all seen Eilen Jewell earlier in the year (albeit in different venues) and it was just as we were talking that I noticed a friend from the Manchester Eilen gig. Very nice people!

Support came in the form of JF Robitaille and Lail Arad, who played a very interesting set.

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Dawn Landes was touring her new album, Meet Me at the River and the set list on a considerable of the new songs. Indeed, the evening opened with the excellent title track.

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There was still plenty of room for songs from other albums, such as Bluebird, and a few covers found their way in too, including Dolly Parton's Longer Than Always and Jimmie Driftwood's powerful What is the Color of the Soul of a Man?

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Verdict: Top show; great venue.

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October Gigs, Part One: Albert Lee; Jilted John

October was full of gigs and I embraced all genres from punk to folk, rock to country and Americana to jazz.

Some thoughts will now follow over the course of the next four blog posts.

Albert Lee

Arc, Stockton-on-Tees

13.10.2018

Albert Lee seems to be on tour permanently. I have seen many times in the past as part of Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings but this was the first time I had seen him with his own band and set.

It was straight into the action with I'm Ready, which set the scene nicely for the evening of rock 'n' roll to follow.

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It was a set full of highlights, including Restless, Luxury Liner, 'Til I Gain Control Again and a storming encore of Real Wild Child and Tear it Up.

Along the way, he told lot of very interesting stories from his lengthy career, full of fascinating characters such as Emmylou Harris, Buddy Holly, Iggy Pop and The Everley Brothers.

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At 74, he shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Hopefully he will return to Teesside in the near future.

Jilted John

The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall

14.10.2018

We all have a race memory of watching Jilted John on Top of the Pops back in 1978.

Not quite punk and not quite not punk, his performance was the talk of the school playground for some time to come and made Gordon, a boy in the year below me, the only child at St. Peter's Primary School to prefer indoor playtimes.

It seemed completely unrealistic to believe I would ever see Jilted John live and yet the opportunity presented itself, 40 years later, in the crypt of Middlesbrough's Town Hall.

John Otway opened the show with a truly extraordinary set, starting off with his biggest hit - Really Free - and following up swiftly with another that 'was released the same year and sold exactly the same number of copies' (i.e. the B side).

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The choice of songs was extraordinary too, including an almost entirely spoken word version of Sweet's Blockbuster, seemingly as a device to introduce the astonishing double-guitar depicted here, which proved perfect to the task of reproducing the screaming chords for the chorus.

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The highly entertaining set concluded with Headbangers, the very song the most vocal of local yokels had been demanding since the first song of the set. It soon became apparent why this song was saved until last, as it showcased Otway's talent for repeatedly smashing his forehead against the microphone.

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Jilted John's legendary status ensured a capacity crowd down in The Crypt. The eccentric - and extremely hard-working - band added to the occasion and everyone was fully in role and on target from the very first song, I'm Still Jilted John - a worthy update to most famous of all songs featuring a protagonist called Gordon.

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The tempo rarely dropped from this frenetic opener as we were given a musical tour through the highs, lows, chip shops and bus stops of Jilted John's largely unrequited and certainly frustrated life.

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The crowd was never going to let Jilted John escape without an encore and the evening drew to a triumphant end with another blast of Jilted John.

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It is unlikely Jilted John will return for many more tour dates but if he does I am sure the audience will be ready and waiting.

English Chess Federation Book of the Year 2018

English Chess Federation

Book of the Year 2018

The quality of many of the books received this year was high, but not all made it to the shortlist. Similarly, the selection of the winner from the shortlist proved extremely difficult, as all four of the candidates were not only of high quality but also contrasting subject matter – Alekhine’s Odessa Secrets; a very good book on the Carlsen v Karjakin World Championship; and Small Steps to Giant Improvements, a study on pawns which had a remarkable, positive effect on the writer’s (Shankland) playing career. The winner stood out for its original approach and quality of writing.

The winner

Under the Surface

Jan Markos

Quality Chess pp285 Hardback £23.99

The author, GM Jan Markos, is a distinguished Slovakian academic working in the field of critical decision making and brings to his chess book the influence of his background. This is shown in the chapter titles of Part 1 – About the Laws of the Chess Board: Three Faces of a Piece; Hierarchy on the Board; Infection; Policemen of the Chess Board. Under the Surface is not a traditional chess text book, but rather a travelogue covering a wide variety of chess subjects, with insightful references and analogies to life away from the chess board. One example – the famous Mischel marshmallow experiment with children (read the book to find out what it was) is shown to be applicable to chess playing!

Markos is also a GM, so the chess examples from his own and contemporary master play are serious and relevant to the narration. ‘The Secret Life of Rooks’ is an exemplary explanation of their characteristics and the best way to use them. Chapter 10 features ‘Anatoly Karpov’s Billiard Balls’, where Markos is stimulated to find a feature of bishop play not previously mentioned in text books.

Apart from chess positions and playing, other subjects are covered including ‘Quality and Style’ and ‘Searching for Beauty’, the latter discussing a survey he undertook on a Czech chess web site.

One of the most interesting sections is Part 6 ‘About Computers’. A chapter shows computer limitations, another shows how computers can create original strategies, a third the potentially misleading effects of computer-based statistics. An extremely stimulating chapter is titled ‘The Magician from Brno’, who turns out to be the world No.1 in the International Correspondence Chess Federation. And how does he win correspondence games when all players use powerful computers? By using human judgement and intuition in conjunction with his computers – an encouraging conclusion!

Quality Chess deserve recognition for persuading Markos to write ‘Under the Surface’, and producing the resulting book to a very high standard. All in all an original, fascinating and very worthy winner of the 2018 Book of the Year.

Ray Edwards, Julian Farrand & Sean Marsh, 8th October 2018

Project 30 Tournaments

KO Championship 

Round 1

Paul Weightman v Sean Cassidy

Graham Edwards v Richard Harris

Mike Creaney v Peter Harker

Rayelynn Posadas v Kevin Waterman

Mike Pointon v John Garnett

David Baillie v Brian Whitaker

Sean Marsh v Royce Parker

Matt Jackman v Bye

Each of the rounds will feature one game played at the normal time limit (36 moves in 90 minutes followed by an extra 15 minutes on each clock to play to a finish). Colours will be decided immediately before the games in the usual fashion.

Drawn games will require a replay with colours reversed, which can be played at any time limit agreed by both opponents. If both players cannot reach agreement then the aforementioned timings will be used.

Rapidplay Match Championship 
Round 1

Graham Edwards v Sean Marsh

Royce Parker v Mike Pointon

Peter Harker v Richard Harris

David Baillie v John Garnett

Bernie Price v Rayelynn Posadas

Kevin Waterman v Mike Creaney

Sean Cassidy v Paul Weightman

Matt Jackman v Bye

The first round will feature two games will be played (one with each colour) with 30 minutes on each clock. Players winning their mini-matches will progress to the next round. Players losing their mini-matches will be eliminated. In the event of a 1-1 tie, the players will contest two five-minute games and keep on doing so if further scores of 1-1 are recorded.

The second round will feature Rapidplay matches of four games, the semi-final will feature six games and the final will feature eight games, with all of these rounds following the same tiebreak method as the first round (if required).

All games in this round need to be played by 30 November 2018.