Olive Rudd
(vocals); Tommy Moran (tenor sax); Jim McBriarty (alto sax, soprano sax,
clarinet, vocals); Neville Hartley (trombone, vocals); Colin Haikney
(keyboards); Alan Rudd (double bass); Tommy Graham (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Oh Lady be Good! for starters - casual swing with Jim McBriarty's
vocals mirroring those of Fred Astaire and that's how the session continued,
softly swinging, Basie-style. J M opened on alto sax and played more of it
on Blue and Sentimental with 'bone man Neville Hartley and
pianist Colin Haikney chipping-in.
Olive Rudd got to her feet to sing It's a Sin to Tell a
Lie accompanied by Tommy Moran's assured tenor saxophone playing. The
band's singer would return.
Of late Classic Swing's repertoire has incorporated more Basie-influenced
small group numbers and that's no bad thing. Two charts by the Count himself
- Jive at Five and Swingin' the Blues (the
latter arranged by maestro Colin Haikney) - reaffirmed the late thirties Kansas
City link with the frontline concentrating on Haikney's dots - no time for a
beer on this one! Olive returned to close the set singing My Melancholy
Baby with more top tenor playing from Moran.
Classic Swing's interval raffle continued to elude BSH - one of these
days! - and upon the resumption, drummer Tommy Graham had the final word on a
swinging Oh Baby (Bix and his Wolverine pals). Band singer
Olive Rudd sang some Doris Day - Sentimental Journey -
with more from Moran and McBriarty, clarinet. Rudd promised she was Keepin'
Out of Mischief Now (oh, yeah?!), the boys (anchored by Alan Rudd's
in-the-pocket bass playing) purred on At the Woodchopper's Ball and
when Olive Rudd suggested The Best things in Life are Free that
was it.
A good session, well-supported, the next one - put it in the diary - is
on Friday, June 7, one o'clock.
Russell
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