Monday, 30 August 2010
Next up - Alan Bateman and friends
Don't miss Alan B. This will be another high energy evening from this versatile and gifted trumpeter and we're delighted that now he's fully pro he still fits us in. See you there.
Everett Blows In
It was good to welcome Johnny Everett back with his Red Dragons last night. The Welsh Wizzard was on good form (hard to believe he's been leading bands in the Midlands and elsewhere for 50 years!!) and we got through a fair few of the old favourites from the dixieland repertoire. Guesting with the Dragons due to holiday comittments were Dave Braidley of the New Washboard Syncopators on trombone and Len Thwaites on bass, both of whom fitted seamlessly into the lineup and made distinctive contributions.
Dave B will be back with the Syncopators later in the Autumn and we look forward to another of their highly memorable selections of songs you never hear anywhere else.
Good too to welcome back Ruth Frith with the Dragons - a bundle of energy behind the mike and who can always be relied upon to energise the night's jazz proceedings.
Talking of which, Ruth got up and did a couple with Abbey Jazz at Pershore when we were there, which was the icing on a fairly triumphant cake. We played to standing room only, notwithstanding Alan Barnes being the rival attraction, and (to hell with false modesty!) we done terrific.
See you next time, and thanks again to John and the Dragons.
Dave B will be back with the Syncopators later in the Autumn and we look forward to another of their highly memorable selections of songs you never hear anywhere else.
Good too to welcome back Ruth Frith with the Dragons - a bundle of energy behind the mike and who can always be relied upon to energise the night's jazz proceedings.
Talking of which, Ruth got up and did a couple with Abbey Jazz at Pershore when we were there, which was the icing on a fairly triumphant cake. We played to standing room only, notwithstanding Alan Barnes being the rival attraction, and (to hell with false modesty!) we done terrific.
See you next time, and thanks again to John and the Dragons.
Monday, 2 August 2010
Sunday 29 Aug - Here be Dragons!
We will be welcoming back John Everetts Red Dragon JazzMen, with Ruth Frith. Another chance to hear one of the Midlands' longest-serving and best-loved band leaders about whom it has often been said...
No Abbey Jazz at Spring Lane 15th August...
....because we'll be playing at the Pershore Festival. Hope to see you there. We're taking an 'All Star' band including the popular Gary Wood.
Swingingin' with the Kings
The long-awaited return of the Swing Kings last night gave us the chance to hear some of the Midlands' best musicians playing a selection of great numbers you don't hear from the average band.
Under Ron Hills' guidance the Swing Kings have always been up for the musical challenge of the late-swing/early bebop repertoire. This is music that requires artistry and concentration. That's just the combination you get from Ron, Tony Pipkin, Roger Heeley, and Roy Dutton, now joined by Terry Roberts on reeds to create a front line with the technique and the chops to do this music in fine style. Len and I had a ball and it was a privilege to play with them last night.
In conversation with Ron during the break last night, he was saying that it sometimes feels like an uphill battle to get club audiences to accept more modern forms of jazz. I know from my own experience that this is true - there are still gigs where musicians who turn up with a sax (as opposed to a clarinet) or a guitar (as opposed to a banjo) are asked, "Are you going to play that" in disapproving tones. This always seems doubly ironic to me: during the trad boom of the 1950s, we were playing music that was already 30 years out of its era. For audiences that only want to hear faithful reproductions of Jelly Roll Morton's orchestrations or Louis Armstrong's solos played note for note, life must be a constant disappointment!
That's why the music the Kings bring us is so refreshing, even 50+ years from its origins.
Under Ron Hills' guidance the Swing Kings have always been up for the musical challenge of the late-swing/early bebop repertoire. This is music that requires artistry and concentration. That's just the combination you get from Ron, Tony Pipkin, Roger Heeley, and Roy Dutton, now joined by Terry Roberts on reeds to create a front line with the technique and the chops to do this music in fine style. Len and I had a ball and it was a privilege to play with them last night.
In conversation with Ron during the break last night, he was saying that it sometimes feels like an uphill battle to get club audiences to accept more modern forms of jazz. I know from my own experience that this is true - there are still gigs where musicians who turn up with a sax (as opposed to a clarinet) or a guitar (as opposed to a banjo) are asked, "Are you going to play that" in disapproving tones. This always seems doubly ironic to me: during the trad boom of the 1950s, we were playing music that was already 30 years out of its era. For audiences that only want to hear faithful reproductions of Jelly Roll Morton's orchestrations or Louis Armstrong's solos played note for note, life must be a constant disappointment!
That's why the music the Kings bring us is so refreshing, even 50+ years from its origins.
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