John Ronan
(tmb), Bill Smith (cornet), John Reade (pno), Ian McCann (bjo/gtr), Grant
Taylor (dms), Dave Parr (bs/tuba), Dave Thomas (cl)
(Review by Ray)
Time again to listen out for Santa's sleigh bringing
goodies ......remember ...if you believe ...you can hear the bells on his
sleigh ....no bells tonight, but a festive treat nevertheless as the boys from
Manchester crossed the Pennines to provide a packed house at Boston Spa with
jazz of a festive nature at the annual party bash.
Suitably attired in Santa hats the guys kicked off with Closer Walk with Thee then That's a Plenty taking us
back to the spiritually uplifting Won't
be Here Too Long. Back to trad ....a couple of features ....Dave
Thomas on vocals with Button
up Your Overcoat and John Reade a piano solo on Wildcat Blues. Jelly Roll Morton's FroggimoreRag took us up-tempo and into You're Nobody's Sweetheart Now, then Down by the Riverside saw the first audience
participation of the evening & took us to the break.
As befits a Christmas party at the Spa, the food just kept
coming ....a visual cornucopia fit for the occasion ....though after over
indulging we were not fit for much ...but ...that's what Christmas is all about !
Anyone who knows the Stompers would recall that they sadly
lost leader Tony Foulkes 18 months earlier ....since then, Banjo man Ian has
led them forward. On returning for the second set, resident archivist John
Ronan gave us the good tidings that it was 45 years to the day that the
original Stompers played their first gig ...not a bad record at all ....you
can see how they survive in today's scene ....Bill Smith led the line in the
style of an old fashioned centre-forward .....with wingers John & Dave
excelling in providing support to him ....and the half back rhythm line keeping
it all tight at the back.
Kicking off the second set in fine style, we moved through
Acker's Goodnight Sweet Prince to Buddy Bolden's Buddy's Habits then a beautiful
Dave Thomas solo, Burgundy
Street. A
Traditionally, at the close of the year, we make
resolutions ....if you have not yet visited the Jazz at the Spa, then you
really need to put it high on your 2015 wish-list - the jazz there is of the
highest class, it’s every Saturday, and it's pay on the door - so it's a few
miles down the road? ....the simple fact is that nowadays we in, the Newcastle
area, no longer have a venue which regularly attracts the bands that the Spa
does ....we are starved of regular good jazz of this type ...the first three
months alone see Savannah
Jazz; Alan Barnes and John Hallam; Mart Rodgers Manchester Jazz; Frank Brookers
Happy Chappies; T J Johnson Band and Amy Roberts ......fabulous Jazz !
Take a look at the website ..www.jazzinthespa.co.uk
Happy Christmas everyone ....keep jazz alive ....
Ray R.
2 comments :
Thanks for that excellent review Ray really created the atmosphere of Boston Spa.
However, I think you are doing Newcastle and the north-east down. The Vieux Carré Jazzmen, The Maine Street Jazzmen, The Tees Valley Stompers keep the trad flag flying with weekly gigs. The Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party brings in bands from all over the world. Alan Barnes was recently at the Jazz Café, John Hallam is not unknown at Blaydon and Blaydon supremo Roly Veitch is not unknown at Boston Spa either. Currently, I would suggest that the north-east has never been better catered for by bands of all styles.
My point is Lance that we have no local venues now attracting quality bands regularly from outside the region. People vote with their feet ...we support the local clubs (Fell, Ashington etc) but like many others whilst we appreciate the quality of the local bands, we simply don't wish to watch them every week ....we crave choice. Audience stats say it all ....Spa 80 to 120 weekly, Darlington 60, Trinity was 80+, Saville 70 ....watching such as French bands Hot Antics, Red Hot Reedwarmers, Paris Washboard, mixed with local talent like Swing City Trio & Hot Club Trio. Contrast that to local clubs ...Blaydon was 25 probably 40 now, Ashington 35, Springwell 30, Fell was 25. The only high audience locally is NCRO's annual Caedman Hall gig ...that can get 200 I think, so there is a bigger audience out there, they need the attraction of a mix of local & national names to get them through the door
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