"Tenor saxophonist Claude Werner followed and had it all to do. Double bass player Lawrence Blackadder and guitarist Lloyd Wright provided a solid platform for Werner to cut loose and new recruit, drummer John Hirst, played magnificently from the off. Werner can blow and blow and he did just that. A torrent of ideas poured forth on original numbers including Sitting in the Sun and the ever playful Kids. Werner garners accolades each time he plays a gig and this performance was no different. A number of people in the hall heard the Chilean for the first time and were mucho impressed. Will he ever receive a bad review? Not on this form he won't!"  Russell.

http://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com/2011/03/splinter-gateshead-international-jazz.html

"....The virtuoso display by Claude Werner who, with his quartet, had given a mind-blowing performance in the Jazz Lounge!" Lance.

"I was completely blown away by Claude Werner. He took me to places that Joe Lovano didn't reach." Blue.

http://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com/2011/03/sage-gateshead-international-jazz_27.html

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"Thoughts and Recollections" - The Claude Werner Quartet












"Claude Werner has a great tenor sound that draws richly upon his knowlege of the tradition, his trio allows for ample space in which it can take centre stage" Tim Garland

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The Claude Werner Quartet is neither here for the money nor going through the motions. Played with a character and style which is easily warmed to, the set had me smirking on a few occasions, due to the uplift the band could create. Engineering in an exclusively jazz gig every saturday at Zefferellis, I work with many high quality acts and I am very aware of the difference in attitudes that create professionalism both on and off stage. The positive mood at the soundcheck was soon shared with an audience via a lively and tastefully humorous delivery. It's no wonder many of the other players on the scene have asked my opinion of the standard of playing of this band, it suggests to me that this band is the benchmark for other serious jazz players. Rightly so....

Mike Fearon

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"Claude Werner reached Newcastle (UK) from his Chilean homeland by a pretty circuitous route that took in New York, Paris, Barcelona, and goodness knows where else (a visiting Danish rhythm section greeted him as an old friend). His list of influences is a short and very select one, running from Coleman Hawkins via Getz and Rollins to Joe Henderson, and Claude places himself squarely in that mainstream saxophone lineage. That’s a tough place to make an impression if you’ve nothing new to say, so it’s a mark of Claude’s quality that he is able consistently to invest the tradition with his own lyrical inventiveness.
You could say much the same about David Carnegie. It’s perhaps significant that his most influential teacher has been Al Harewood, a wonderful drummer who over a long career has anchored sessions by a diverse array of jazz greats (from Lou Donaldson to Lee Konitz by way of Dexter Gordon) without ever seeking to thrust himself into the foreground. And that’s what David brings to everything he does: immaculate playing at the service of the music, not ego.
But let’s not dismiss the contribution of the two ‘native’ musicians on this recording. Bassist Laurence Blackadder provides solid, unobtrusive support throughout, knowing exactly when to lay back and when to push the pulse (listen, for instance, to the way he sustains the momentum beneath Claude’s almost soporific sax on the appropriately named ‘Daydreaming’). And guitarist Mick Wright is absolutely the right man for the job: to describe a musician as “tasteful” can sometimes seem like damning with faint praise, but here it’s just what’s needed, a mix of well chosen infills and solos that eschew multi-note pyrotechnics in favour of thoughtful meditations on the music.
Of course, thoughtfulness is what you’d expect on an album called ‘Thoughts and Recollections’, and it’s the dominant characteristic of this set of tunes. This is also as good an introduction as you could imagine to the strengths of Claude Werner’s playing. Some of the bands he works with on Tyneside call for a more upbeat post-bop attack: he handles the challenge with aplomb (albeit sometimes at length – I once managed to drink two pints during a single Werner solo), but the warm expressiveness of his tone is at its most beguiling on these more measured accounts of his own compositions.
As the album’s title suggests, each of the tracks is inspired by some aspect of Claude’s life, many of them associated with the recent years in Newcastle - although ‘Fagin’s Pack’ refers to days in the “jazz underground” of Paris and Barcelona. (Fagin’s Pack was also the original name of this band, until some wag asked which of the quartet was the Artful Dodger!) But the real test of the music is not its programmatic quality, but whether the tunes, and Claude’s interpretation of them, stand up in their own right. Listen to it, and you’ll agree that it passes that particular test with absolute conviction."

Paul Bream (Jazz Promoter)

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Thursday July 30th 2009, Manchester Jazz Festival

Claude Werner Quartet shines through the rain in St Anne’s Sq.
It’s the Manchester Jazz Festival, its St Anne’s Square and it’s open to the elements. The heavy rain punctuated with short sharp bursts of strong sunlight kept the audience busy with umbrellas, drying seats and repeatedly scurrying for cover. This didn’t phase The Claude Werner Quartet however and it was clear that it would take a great deal more audience distraction to shake these accomplished players out of their collective groove.

A real international band this that Claude Werner (tenor sax) has put together ranging from his own roots in Chile through Barbados (David Carnegie on drums), Northern Ireland (Mark Williams on guitar) to the north-west with Laurence Blackadder on bass. 

For me their music reflects the international mix within the band as each member’s influences were evident throughout the cleverly constructed Werner compositions.

Its hard to pick out a favourite from the 7 number set but the opener ‘City’, the closing ‘Things I cannot express’ and if for nothing else other than its appropriateness on the day ‘Sitting in the sun’ stood out.

The most striking thing about this band is how such strong individuals, and they all had the space to make their own statements, could create such an effortless sound which was relaxing yet challenging at the same time.

Claude Werner on tenor sax has a strong, clear tone and with more than a hint of Charles Lloyd in his technique. Extremely melodic but at times stepping way out of the box, such as on the finale ‘Things I cannot express’, but always with a distinct purpose. A consummate band leader and, on this showing, also a composer to be reckoned with.

Mark Williams on guitar augmented each number with his sharp and precise, but seemingly effortless solos.

David Carnegie was energetically confident on drums and together with the bass provided a driving purpose to this strong assured music.

Laurence Blackadder on bass provided a steady, pulsating support that underpinned the whole performance and allowed his fellow band members the perfect canvas on which to sketch their solos.


The Claude Werner Quartet can be heard on CD with ‘Thoughts and Recollections’ 


David Gosling (Jazz Promoter)

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Sunday, 28 February 2010

Claude Werner Quartet - Splinter @ The Bridge