Lockerbie Jazz Festival: Sept. 30 - Oct. 2.

This year’s festival, the 6^th, was as exciting as ever. 
Friday.featured the Red Stripe Band, a jump jive outfit who really had the Town Hall jumpin’. Elsewhere,  local tenor man now New York based, Ben Bryden's Bright Noise provided a contemporary sound - an international band with guys from Belgium Australia and the US alongside him.

Saturday morning/afternoon - Take 6 in Lockerbie Academy, with music, food and drink, stalls and workshops. 7 hours of virtually non stop music and dance over 5 stages.

Trad from local band The Lairds of Dixieland and the Vieux Carre Jazzmen from Newcastle, who brought a busload of fans. Big band music from The Strathclyde Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Nelson Tomlinson School Big Band – great to see the youngsters playing Jazz. It gives us confidence in the future of this great music! A combo out of SYJO performed with another local tenor man Scott Murphy, who himself fronted his Janek Project. But that wasn’t all! The Stewart Forbes 4  (Stewart is SYJO’s director) did their thing, Trumpeter Bruce Adams joined by Houston Person on tenor played a great gig in the afternoon.

Tom Finlay and Sue McHugh and others showed off the results of the singer’s workshop, while Richard Michael on piano was joined by some of the young musicians present in a jam session; he even got a young piper up! He followed this with a history of Jazz Piano in about 40 minutes.

Saturday evening. The Academy main hall was filled to capacity for Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band. This went down very well, even though Acker is beginning to show his age.

At the Queens that night we heard a quintet brought together for the Festival. Houston Person (tenor) had flown in from the States just to play at Lockerbie alongside Alan Barnes on alto and baritone and Bruce Adams on trumpet backed by the Paul Harrison Trio, Paul on piano, Euan Burton on bass and Doug Hough on drums.  Despite not having played with Houston before this was a tremendous gig, with wonderful ballads from the front line as a group and as individuals, as well as some real swinging combo work.
Sunday afternoon.Three performances on Sunday followed a gospel service in Dryfesdale Parish Church led by Rev. Sandy Stoddart. The Glasgow Gospel Choir a now regulars in Church on the Sunday morning of the Festival and their singing was inspirational.More Dixieland in the afternoon from the Dave Donohoe Band before a very appreciative audience at the Queens Hotel, Janet Seidel, Australia’s First Lady of Song brought her trio to the  Somerton Hotel, with a wonderful selection from the Song Books, then on to the Dryfesdale Hotel for the closing gig.

What a climax to the Festival!

Houston Person on tenor teamed up again with Alan Barnes on alto, clarinet and Baritone, backed by the Paul Harrison Trio. This was for me, was the highlight of the weekend. From ballads to blues and up tempo numbers they had the audience worked, at times, into a frenzy, particularly when they launched into a totally improvised blues, with amazing solos from the leaders, matched by an equally superb solo from Paul Harrison.

The perfect end to another successful Lockerbie Jazz Festival.
(Photos from Ray Robson).

George Smith
(George Smith presents ‘Mainly Jazz’ on Alive107.3FM 7.00–8.00 pm on Mondays  or online at http://aliveradio.net/)