JonesFest @ South Street Arts, Reading, February 23 2008 [SevenSleepers]

SevenSleepers

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JonesFest @ South Street Arts, Reading, February 23 2008

Posted on March 2, 2008 10:08 AM
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JonesFest was a tribute to the late Reading musician Garry Jones. Garry died of in August 2007 of throat cancer after a 35 year musical career that started in his native Liverpool and graduated to Reading’s mid seventies music scene. Over the years he played with some of the area’s finest bands including Broad Street Rumour, El Seven, The Lost Weekend, Clayson and the Argonauts and recently Bidgie Reef & The Gas.

His flair as a bassist led him to back one of Rock’s greats, Chuck Berry, though his versatility as a musician meant he was also equally at ease playing with New York's jazz-rock singer Annette Peacock. The South Street concert celebrated Garry’s skill as both musician and performer and featured many of the musicians he collaborated with during his life-time.

Amongst many of the artists playing on Saturday were the legendary Clayson and the Argonauts, a lawless bunch fronted by the multitalented Alan Clayson.
In the past the band’s act has been described as a ‘travelling asylum’ and it’s no exaggeration to say that Alan is a key candidate for election in ‘rock's lunatic fringe." Certainly, the early stage act defied concise description and that Argonaut magic was still evident on Saturday as they ended with a frenetic cover of Floyd’s ‘Arnold Layne‘.

With no ‘star billing’ all of the bands readily performed short energetic sets and, as would be expected, some were more memorable than others.

Up there with the memorable were Bidgie Reef & The Gas with Roger Winslet on vocals and Pete Brookes on keyboards delivering a crackling short set.

In addition, Denny Mills aka Mr Lordy Self-Righteous from Scatman PX, perhaps Reading's most dazzling band of the mid-90s, powered through Joplin’s ‘Piece of my Heart‘.

And not one to be upstaged, there was some brilliant sax playing by Tim Hill, the saxophonist, improviser and band leader who has worked both the streets and venues of Reading for many years. Tim prolonged his set even though his band had left the stage. His solo performance amongst the audience encapsulated the anarchic nature of the evening something that Garry Jones, I believe, would have appreciated.

If there were to be any gripes about the gig I would have to say that it need a bit more linking of bands, some explanation of who they were and a ‘proper’ ending to the evening. There were no goodbyes only a shuffling silent exit to what had, nevertheless, been a blinding and honourable evening that also raised cash for the Cancer Centre at the ‘Berks’.