It was phenomenal! A tribute to Freddie Hubbard's seminal album from 1974, Red Clay, transcribed for a larger ensemble by Matt Roberts (I'm not sure what the BigISH name is all about!) and expertly executed.
Roberts, a trumpet player not unknown in downtown Darlington, set a deserted Ronnie's alight with a fantastic set that moved big band jazz from musical senility to musical insanity in the nicest possible way!
Most of the top notch players soloed with Copus and Hogg acing it. Surprisingly, Roberts himself didn't solo. He didn't need to, he arranged the book, conducted and compered - what more do you want - jokes?
The saxophones were out of this world but very much in mine! Barford on tenor, Shenoy on alto and Allsopp on baritone hitting notes beyond the reach of most piccolo players! Talking about piccolos, did Millard pull one out of his pocket on the Theme For Kareem?
However, on a night like this, the enjoyment was seeing and hearing such a great band in such a great venue rather than point-scoring individuals - this was a band! this was an orchestra!
For visitors to London, The National Gallery comes a distant second...
Lance
(Screenshot from Ken Drew)
Red Clay; Delphia; Sweet Sioux; The Intrepid Fox; Cold Turkey (a John Lennon comp!); Love Connection; Theme for Kareem; Camel Rise. The latter two numbers were from later albums.
Matt Roberts, George Hogg, James Copus (trumpets); Olli Martin, Emma Bassett (trombones), Owen Dawson (bass trombone); Jon Shenoy (alto sax); George Millard (alto sax, flute, alto flute, piccolo); Tom Barford (tenor sax); James Allsopp (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Matt Robinson (keyboards); Conor Chaplin (bass); Dave Hamblett (drums).
1 comment :
To generate that amount of energy in an empty room is testament to the musicians' commitment to Matt's project.
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