I took a trip up to York on Tuesday, and met up with some good friends from the Jazz and Blues Society. James got the night off URY due to battle of the bands, and we all headed to the Deep Blues Club just outside the sity centre to see Paul Lamb & The King Snakes Live.

First off for me it was my very first visit to the venue, and it was a pleasent surprise. Just like a traditional blues club, lots of seats, small tables, low ceiling, well stocked reasonably priced bar, low lighting and a stage setup for some serious blues. The variety of people there was amazing too, young and old, from all walks of life - just the way blues should be. Regardsless of who is playing, I can heartily recommend the venue alone to anyone thinking of taking a trip out to hear blues.

I hadn’t heard anything from Paul Lamb or the band before, but I wasn’t dissapointed. They played some absolutely outstanding stuff, and a lot of it surprisingly lively. I had just about got myself setup for a night of real blues, but actually a lot of the tracks were very much get up and dance affairs. The two or 3 really mellow tracks thus stood out from the rest and were undoubtedly the best there.

Support from the band was superb, especially the guitarists who clearly knew what it was to play the blues. Its the kind of sound I don’t think it’s possible to forget in quite a while. Paul Lamb on harminica kept everyone together and had his own antics to play, including walking around the audience still in time with the band, while playing the harmonica, every audience member got a different mini tune it seemed!

No encore was needed as Paul played right up to the end, calling his band back from the dressing room several times! It was a truely amazing evening, with no one leaving disappointed.

They sold CDs at the end, but they are also available to buy online from Amazon, and in most popular record stores. I can heartily recommend the blues artistry of this group, and wouldn’t hestitate to attend another gig, either at the same venue or indeed somewhere else.

The York Jazz and Blues society organised a trip out to see nu York State, a new York based band lead by Danny Gough. The event was in the basement bar at the city screen cinema in the town centre. As reviewed on URY, this music is new, fresh and a very exciting form of jazz. If you didn’t think you would be into jazz, this will turn your head around. There are a variety of performances coming up, keep an eye on local press!

As shown in the picture, the informal setting of the basement bar always helps to enhance the music for the audience, not least because of the proximity to the audience and at this performance, the space to jive along with the music in front of the stage. nu York State are selling a whole new type of jazz here; I was surprised by how mellow, and yet vibrant the sound was the whole time - mixing subtle rap inputs with soulful sax - this group pack a serious jazz punch. It was also nice to feel a part of the meaning of the music too. As a young group they seem to have a large amount of feeling for the student population and the concept of rolling with it, moving on in life and indeed life lessons. These shine through in the vocal and instrumental sound of the music - “You’ve gotta keep driving!”.

The support band who appeared before nu York State left something to be desired as far as my ears are concerned, but then I’m not the authority on everything, and it’s definitely worth sitting through while waiting for Danny Gough to start the party. If you want to support a local group who have the potential to make it big in the jazz scene, this is the group to catch live. Fresh, modern and in touch with how you feel about life; nu York State are the group to see!