Mark
Williams (guitar); Peter Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn); John Pope (bass); Russ
Morgan (drums)
(Review by Ann Alex).
A
sterling performance, no doubt about it.
Musicians at the top of their game, and very entertaining, from the bass
opening to You Don’t Smile Any More,
right through to Mark Williams composition Booze
Blues. If this is what drink can do for you, give me 3 pints of cider now!
Quite
a few of the numbers were Williams originals, such as There, There, There, which, Tanton usefully informed us, was based
on the rhythm changes chord sequences, for the benefit of the people who’d been
to the workshop earlier in the day. (see below). Tubes,
another Williams composition, was really fun, with a rocky guitar opening, then
the trumpet soloing to steady riffs from the others, then back to rock guitar
with military beats from the drums, a drum and bass call and response duet,
Pope beating on the wooden sides of the bass, all ending with a little whimper
from the trumpet. Follow that! They did,
with a blues which they couldn’t name, but it featured rich, strong, guitar
chords, whatever it was.
Other
tunes included Turf War (‘a jazz
waltz with many key changes’, said Tanton in tutorial mode once more); a
wonderfully gentle Lately I’ve Been
Lonely; Gregory’s Here (Horace Silver). Definitely a band worth hearing
again.
Some
of the participants of the jazz course which took place at the Globe over the
weekend provided a pre-gig jam, assisted by Pete Tanton and John Pope. We had:
Ken
Pierce (alto sax); Jeff Smith (tenor sax); Stephen Brown (tenor sax); Andrew
Guerin (trumpet); Roy
Stephenson (guitar); Max Goodall (piano); Derek Heather (drums); Ann Alex (vocals).
Our
tunes included Summertime (with
vocals, sorry Lance, not your favourite song!); Cataloupe Island; My Funny Valentine. I think we did well, at least I know from the
workshop that there were some very competent musicians who are already playing
in bands. People to watch for the
future!Ann Alex
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