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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Jack Massarik's rating
Reader rating
More ghosts than usual seemed to hover over this hallowed bandstand last night as New York vibraphonist Joe Locke paid homage to two fallen colleagues. Vocalist trumpeter Mark Ledford departed last November, and tenorist Bob Berg shared his last gig with Locke before perishing in a 2002 motorway crash.
Locke himself, an arresting sight at the vibes with the straight back and wiry frame of a champion gymnast, looked as fit as ever. And with Milt Jackson gone and Bobby Hutcherson at the veteran stage, he's running out of rivals. Roy Ayers has the funk factor and Gary Burton the feathery chordwork but for dazzling straight-ahead improvisation at speed, Locke's four-mallet control is absolute.
Leading a fine young group featuring pianist Robert Rodriguez and unrelated bassist Ricardo Rodriguez, he produced a mixed-metre treatment of Laura and shimmering versions of Blue in Green and My One and Only Love.
Johnathon Blake, a chunky, bespectacled drummer who manages to play drums brilliantly with his elbows pinned to his sides, starred in a funk arrangement Locke envisaged in a dream. "I imagined the '53 Rollins meeting the '78 Yellowjackets," he explained. "It must have been something I ate."
Opposite them is Toscha Comeaux, a big, beautiful, sweetnatured singer from Florida via Connecticut. She can scat a little but is happy just caressing the notes with a touch of gospelnurtured melisma. Her US trio, with pianist Will Delisfort, bassist-MD Anthony Chatman and Londonbased expat drummer Rod Youngs, does an unflashily solid job.
Until tomorrow (020 7439 0747).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
