Jazz may cause a large, swing band and horn section, conductor-and-couples-dancing-to-Glenn-Millar-at-a-garden-party-type-thing to spring to mind.
Or, then again, it may not spring to mind at all. Whatever you may, or may not, have imagined, jazz night on a Wednesday at The Phoenix is a valuable opportunity to see an alternative side to the York music scene.
Tucked away in a back room of the deliciously authentic, eighteenth-century pub, The Phoenix is a jazz quartet playing to a crowded room. The tables have large, gloriously atmospheric candles placed in the centre, around which cluster the audience, principally made up of locals and students. The band, clad in a casual mixture of hoodies, t-shirts, jeans and trainers, are quite simply, mesmerising.
Whether it was the pianist, moving at an incredible speed over complicated jazz and blues scales with the ease of an expert, or the double bassist, eyes closed, at one with his instrument and spiralling off into an ecstasy of jazz improvisation, it was clear that they were utterly oblivious of the audience and completely absorbed in the moment.
It may not get you raving until dawn, but as for relieving the weight of exam stress, jazz at The Phoenix may just be what you need.
