Wayne Krantz And John Etheridge Play Cardiff Concert
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The four days of concerts and workshops held across Cardiff in aid of the Jed Williams Memorial fund were brought to a climax with a concert featuring New York guitarist Wayne Krantz (pictured) and British guitarist John Etheridge. Playing mostly Krantz originals, three of which were specially written for this concert, the two guitarists were on form complementing each other’s styles with some excellent solos. Backed by Laurence Cottle and Jeremy Stacey on drums, Krantz and Etheridge, who had not played together, before left a lasting impression on the large audience. The evening opened with an intriguing duet set from Cardiff’s young piano star Dave Stapleton along with his quintet saxophonist Ben Waghorn.
Jed Williams who had nurtured the career of the young Wayne Krantz was one of the founders of the Brecon Jazz Festival and set up Jazz UK magazine, died in 2003. The memorial fund set up in his name is to provide assistance for young jazz musicians in Wales to further their musical careers. The concert series featured performances from many musicians who knew Jed and were touched by his passion and enthusiasm for the music. The series began on Thursday with a performance by the Dave O’Higgins quartet, standing in at very short notice for Peter King. One of Jed’s local discoveries The Heavy Quartet featured in Friday’s concert. Rob Smith of the Heavy Quartet said: “We really owe our continuation to Jed Williams who spotted us busking and invited us to play Brecon and Cardiff jazz festivals in our first year and helped us to get gigs. We were pretty rough and ready then but Jed encouraged us to keep going and to work on what we were doing.” Saturday night saw singer Tina May play in a duet with long time associate guitarist Dylan Fowler at the Wales Millennium Centre before heading back to Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre for a second concert featuring Paula Gardiner, Dick Roberts, Lee Goodall and Mark O’Connor. The concert opened with a great set from Maria Pendlebury featuring Art Themen on saxophone.
Report and photo: Tim Dickeson