JOHN MARLEY and Kate Peters organised a big Charity Jazz Jam at the Phoenix Inn on Monday night and their efforts were rewarded by a packed turnout and many musicians turning up not only to play, but to pay to play.

£200 was raised for the National Foundation for Youth Music, which provides the opportunity to make music to young people and helping them overcome the challenges they face in life. Many congratulations to Kate and John and to all involved.

The new jazz session at the Red Lion, Poppleton, has a change of programme tonight, with the Simon Parkinson Trio at 8.30pm. Simon plays piano and guitar, but take a trip out to the pub/hotel on the A59 to discover what he has in store (01904 781141).

Tomorrow night Wakefield Jazz presents the guitarist Nigel Price’s Trio with Alex Garnett (saxophone). Jim Watson takes the Hammond Organ seat (01977 680542).

Sunday jazz in York is with the busy John Marley (bass) plus Paul Smith (drums) and guests at Kennedy’s Café Bar, Little Stonegate, at 1pm. There is a choice on Sunday at 8pm at pubs less than five minutes apart. Vocalist Jen Low and pianist Karl Mullen will be playing soul, jazz and blues at the Rook and Gaskill, Lawrence Street (01904 674067), while Ian Chalk`s Firebird Quartet will be playing accessible post-bop at the Phoenix Inn, George Street (01904 656401).

On Monday the Kate Peters Quartet returns to the Phoenix Inn at 8.30pm. The Phoenix will host the regular jam session on Wednesday and on the same night there is a gipsy jazz jam session at the Volunteer Arms, Watson Street at 8pm.

REVIEW

Paragon, Cerca (Jellymould Jazz) ***

THE spread of academic jazz courses has opened students’ ears to an increasingly wide range of music. 1990s graduates imagined that jazz began with 1940s bebop; later graduates discovered 1960/70s Blue Note Records, then the electric jazz/fusion of the later 70s and 80s.

Thanks to the structure of these courses, free jazz, symphonic jazz, classical music and ethnic music have been added to the curriculum; the band follows suit, the publicity listing Brooklyn ballads to Venezuelan merengue to Bollywood bhangra.

The big trend this year is the return to the Fender Rhodes electric piano, featured heavily by Paragon. Saxophonist Peter Ehwald has some of the soft-toned lyricism of Stan Getz/Michael Brecker on East To West, Bohdan and North To South. Pianist Arthur Lea leans towards the jazz/fusion settings on his Fender Rhodes, alternately tinkly staccato runs with big reverb and takes an expressive solo on Linguine, although it is not a good instrument for self expression.

The sounds for saxophone and bass are in the classic jazz tradition of good tone and clear articulation, but the Fender Rhodes is out of place. There are not many tunes to whistle along to, but that is true of much contemporary modern jazz, but Paragon are to be congratulated on their fluent musicianship.