(Review by 'Our Man in Brum'/Photos courtesy of Mike Bates).Saturday afternoon October 17 saw a formidable gathering of jazz musicians at the Old Joint Stock Theatre in Birmingham where Newcastle born saxophonist, and 1970’s Newcastle Big Band member, Cormac Loane was celebrating his 60th Birthday. Nearly 100 musicians and friends crowded into the candlelit upstairs room of this famous City centre pub, which assumed an authentic jazz club atmosphere for the occasion. Cormac kicked off the proceedings on alto sax with a swinging version of Duke Ellington’s Satin Doll, accompanied by his brother Terry Loane on piano, Nick Wiltshire on bass and Maurice Colby on drums. After a laid back, Latin-American interpretation of Black Orpheus, singer Fred Webb took to the stage, slowing the tempo right down with a very relaxed version of Body and Soul, with Roger Heeley now taking over on keyboard.
Three members of Jazz Strata, resident band at Birmingham’s Malt House, then came to the stage - Peter Carlton on clarinet,
Andy Peat on trumpet and Allan Jones on drums, opening with Take the A Train, which included an energetic
contribution on vocals from Jim Denham. And then singer Sheila Fawkes joined in
on some more standards, accompanied by her multi-instrumentalist “guy”, Terry
McGrath – on this occasion playing the trombone!
The Duo
Montmartre – Parisian singer Celine Donmart accompanied by acoustic
guitarist Cris Tolley – introduced a completely different mood with their beautiful
interpretation of traditional, French, jazz-flavoured chansons. Soprano
saxophone player Alan Davis then continued the French theme with his rendition
of Sidney Bechet’s Petite Fleur. For
this number the drum chair was taken by the legendary Steve Palmer – one time
member of Birmingham Ronnie Scott’s Club resident band, and brother of the
famous Carl Palmer. And Terry Loane sat in again on keyboard - Terry explained later that he and Alan Davis
had been music students together at Birmingham University in the 60s and this
was the first occasion they had played together since performing the two solo
recorder parts in Bach’s Brandenburg
Concerto No 4 in the Barber Institute
in 1969!
From this point onwards the celebration turned
into a true jam session, with different musicians freely dropping in and out of
the band, including Martyn Brown on guitar, along with his ultra-talented
15-year-old daughter Sophia on bass, and Nick Wiltshire’s son Reuben on drums. Singer
Fred Webb took to the stage again to perform a swinging version of On the Sunny Side of the Street, with
Cormac soloing again on alto sax. Then Ex
Cathedra soprano Claire Hollocks sang Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm, opening with the song’s beautiful verse, which is not
usually heard in jazz clubs! Cormac’s son, Cian – drummer with the rock band Spitting Feathers – joined in on this
number. And Howard Gregory, guitarist from the Steve Gibbons Band, contributed
a brilliant solo on violin!Sheila Fawkes returned to a stage crowded with musicians, to close the proceedings with a rousing version of Lover Come Back to Me. It had been a great celebration, re-uniting many old friends, with fantastic music in a beautiful venue!
Photos.
OMIB
Wow Cormack it sounds like it was a swell party! I wish I could have taken up your invitation. Tell me, is Alan Davis the same Alan Davis who gave Dave Weisser's daughter such invaluable recorder tuition? Looking at the photo I think it is (we once jammed together at The Chilli in Heaton many years ago.)
ReplyDeleteYes, probably. As well as being a jazz musician, Alan Davis is one of the country's leading baroque recorder players, and I too was privileged to have a recorder lesson with him on one occasion!
DeleteIs "energetic" some kind of euphemism?
ReplyDeleteA great time was had by all, in honour of a great guy!