The Louis Dowdeswell Big Band @ Wigan Jazz Festival - July 10

It was going to take something special to match Friday evening's magnificent performance by the Simon Spillett Big Band. To close this year's Wigan Jazz Festival, event director Ian Darrington brought in the Louis Dowdeswell Big Band. Introducing Dowdeswell, Darrington said the last time trumpet players stood five deep at the bar was for the (now legendary) appearance by Maynard Ferguson. The Village on the Green was at capacity, literally standing room only. The sense of anticipation was palpable...

The band on stage, ready to go, the man-of-the-moment, Louis Dowdeswell, made a rock star entrance. Our man leapt onto the stage, arms aloft, to thunderous applause, all before the man blew a single note! During the course of two sets band leader Dowdeswell would plunder the the world of movie soundtracks, the classical canon and the full-on experience of Stan Kenton meets Maynard Ferguson meets Gordon Goodwin. Zero to Hero from Disney's Hercules opened the show. And what a show it would be! Playing high Cs and beyond is one thing, sustaining them over a long period with absolute precision is another. The sheer power of it all was something to behold. And that was Louis Dowdeswell. And to think Ryan Quigley, himself no shrinking violet, was leading a trumpet section comprising fellow A-listers Tom Walsh, Andy Greenwood and James Copus! Wow! 

Callum Au took the plaudits as arranger-in-chief and, for good measure, the ace 'bone man came down front of stage for a solo feature on Gershwin's How Long Has This Been Going On? Not to be out done, fellow trombonist Andy Wood stepped up to play There is No Greater Love on an unusual-looking instrument. Musicians in the audience couldn't identify it, one suggesting it could have been a bass flugelhorn. A rhythm section can make or break a big band. Dowdeswell's ace rhythm section couldn't be bettered - pianist Chris Eldred, bassist Laurence Ungless, percussionist James Turner and the amazing Joel Barford (drums).   

The reeds took it in turn to blow big time solos, from tenor saxophonist Nadim Teimoori's feature on Bridge Over Troubled Water (arr. Callum Au) to Graeme Blevins (tenor) to Simon Marsh and Howard McGill (Jumpsuit and Shades) on altos. Dowdeswell was keen to promote his new - as yet unrecorded - album which will reinterpret well known pieces of classical music. By way of preview, we were treated to full on Kenton/Ferguson bombast with movements from Carmen and Pictures at an Exhibition. Was it 'OTT'? It sure was! Hearing a big band play this stuff and play it brilliantly was a rare treat. Russell

                              
The Louis Dowdeswell Big Band: Louis Dowdeswell (MD, trumpet), Tom Walsh, Ryan Quigley, Andy Greenwood, James Copus (trumpets); Tom Dunnett, Callum Au, Maddie Dowdeswell, Andy Wood (trombones); Nadim Teimoori, Graeme Blevins, Simon Marsh, Howard McGill, Gemma Moore (reeds); Chris Eldred (piano, keyboards); Laurence Ungless (double bass, bass); Joel Barford (drums); James Turner (percussion)