Don
Forbes (trumpet); John Rowland (ten sax); Paul Gowland (alto sax); Alan Law
(piano); Paul
Grainger (bass); Paul Wight (drums).
(Review by Ann Alex)
The
band gave another of their stellar performances to a small but appreciative
audience. Enough said? No, Blogmaster
Lance and the reputation of BSH demands much more of a review. Here goes.
Even
the warm up cum sound check was fun, at least for the listener. Much discussion about how many times to play
the head for The Bridge, then a quick
play through of an eastern-sounding tune, which I don’t think was played during
the set, but I could be mistaken about that.
Don
explained that they would play lots of Stan Tracy, including tunes from Under Milk Wood , and also numbers
originally done by EmCee 5. The Bridge
was written about the pub near the High Level Bridge, a good solid four square
tune with useful silences and tenor, trumpet and piano solos; Downbeat After Dark reminded Don of when
he was 17 and returning from nights out and the tune suitably moves down the
scale to end quietly with the alto sax, clever stuff. The One That Got Away may refer to a drummer who escaped from a
band and was a fast furious piece of many notes and an Ian Carr solo taken
straight from the CD. Penpals from Under Milk Wood was trumpet led, flowingly romantic, and I Lost My Specs In Nantucket weaved
about neatly with a distinctly Monkish feel. Dobson’s Choice was another four square tune to round off the first
set.
The
second set opened with No Good Boyo
and Under Milk Wood, the latter, a
favourite of mine, slow, meditative, atmospheric, drums using brushes and light
cymbals, horns in harmony, piano at the end.
Then a Scottish influenced Emcee5 number, Bell Blues (bluebells, get
it?) military drumming, Scottish riffs on the horns, gradually showing more
jazzy influences, low Scottish chords on the piano. There followed Stephenson’s Rocket with a Latin
influence; John O’ Groats, the final
tune in which no holds were barred, and an encore, on demand, a tricksy tune
whose name I didn’t catch, too busy dressing for the metro journey.
Too
many good solos to single anyone out and the set was well outlined by Don. If you weren’t there you missed a treat.
Ann Alex
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