Cormac Loane's 60th Birthday @ the Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham - October 17

(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 60^th 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