Blind Monk Theory – Matt & Phreds – 23rd October 2019

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When I’m in Manchester I always like to go to Matt & Phreds Jazz Club. Luckily for me they also do food so I can use it as an excuse to eat my meal as well as watching some jazz. I had checked on who was on and was excited to see that it was Blind Monk Theory who were the first band I ever saw there except they were called Blind Monk Trio at the time! I’d even listened to their CD on the way down in the van to get me in the mood!

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I ordered a Pizza and some wedges and got a couple of beers! I sat down on table 13 and waited for the food and for the band to come on! The pizza arrived ages before the wedges and at least I knew this time that it would be very hot so I didn’t burn my mouth! The band came on at 9 but there was a change from the way they were before. The sax player was no longer with the band and he had been replaced by a trumpet player and a piano player although I’m not sure how long the latter had been with them as he was passed sheet music by the trumpet player before every number. They just weren’t the same, I was expecting some high energy jazz and the new line up was much more laid back. The last number they did in their first set was a self penned song which I thought was the best thing they’d done up till that point!

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I left after the first set and headed back to the hotel.

Edited to add that I received an email from Bob Whittaker the sax player, he wrote:
Just wanted to advise that the gig you saw in Matt and Phreds was a put together band for that night only. I am the sax player but had emergency hernia surgery the week before so obviously couldn’t make the gig
We are now a chordless quartet with trumpet sax bass drums – still mainly original material but now with cool interplay between horns. Still quite energetic 🙂🙂

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