A very pleasant evening at the Chilli including a set by one of the newer bands - Budvivar. Make a note of them - you won't be disappointed.A swingy octet, they sit comfortably at the modern end of mainstream without making too many demands on the listener. On vocals, Debra Milne gave her own delightful take on standards although a soundcheck would have enhanced her performance even more. Nevertheless, it was all grand stuff with "Love Me Or Leave Me" and "Four" being particularly good. A Jobim number, perhaps she will remind me of the title, sung in unison with the horns, also hit the spot.
The saxes, Fiona Littlewood (alto) and Stuart Findon (ten) too had moments with Stuart playing some fine solos. On trombone, Joe Fowler blew with mucho gusto - perhaps he heard Gareth Roberts last night at the Cluny. It gave a lot of depth to the front line.
Eddie Nickson (gtr), Jim Crinson (fretless), Chris Finch (pno) and Eric Stutt (dms) kept it all together.
Impressed! (Photos).
Take it to the Bridge were a little subdued in the first set but things jumped in the final bash with Paul Gowland once more kicking ass on alto.
John Pope on Jim's fretless, guitarists James and Stuart all did the business. As did Barry and of course let's not forget Dave - talk about Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark!
Dave sang "It's all in the Game" totally unacompanied whilst waiting for the band to get back on. A gem.
Thanks for the positive blog. The Jobim song you liked was ‘Agua De Beber’.
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