Pete Horsfall (trumpet, vocals); Ewan Bleach (reeds, vocals); Malcolm Earle Smith (trombone, vocals); Dave Archer (guitar); Colin Good (piano)
(Review by Russell)
Sunday, noon, Southey St Church, spirituals, hymns and jazz courtesy of the Basin Street Brawlers. Congregation, please be seated, let the jazz begin! Sweet By-and-By sang Pete Horsfall, the first of several spirituals, hallelujah! The Old Rugged Cross (Dave Archer, guitar), Just a Little While to Stay Here - trumpeter Horsfall and reedsman Ewan Bleach possessors of the voice to carry it off, hallelujah!
Down the years the jazz greats have taken to singing/playing spirituals and here in Keswick's Methodist Church the Brawlers, themselves not unfamiliar with occasions such as this, reached out to the congregation in service to the glories of jazz, hallelujah! (Sometimes I Feel Like a) Motherless Child...Yes, indeed! Hallelujah! Horsfall, eyes raised to the heavens, Bleach's soprano sax in praise of...of...whatever. Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (not quite Paul Robeson but good, nevertheless),
BSH can report that it wasn't a 'happy-clappy' occasion (phew!) but singing along was encouraged and with Ewan Bleach's soprano sax leading the way the congregation followed Down by the Riverside. And that was the first set - hallelujah!
Fortified, revived by coffee and cake, the hard-living congregation settled once more, this time to listen to a set of jazz - hallelujah! Wabash Blues, a hot-hot-hot Ride, Red, Ride! then It's Tight Like That - was the vicar around?
Ewan Bleach, looking into the middle distance, sang I Cover the Waterfront, later to be joined by Horsfall and trombonist Malcolm Earle Smith in splendid vocal harmony on Midnight Blue. The sun was shining, the pubs open - hallelujah! - the Basin Street Brawlers went out on High Society, plus, of course, an encore. In town, more jazz sessions were awaiting...
Russell
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