BSH interviews Mike Farmer (part two)

BSH: Favourite musicians that you’ve heard live and, again, anyone that you found didn’t live up to expectation.

Mike: I think I tend to favour saxophonists when asked for my favourite musicians whom I’ve seen live - and there are many - but I  would put Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Sonny Stitt, Stan Getz and Archie Shepp in my top five. Then Bob Mover, Lou Tabackin, Ronnie Scott, Don Menza, Clifford Jordan, Brew Moore, Greg Abate, Anthony Braxton, Lanny Morgan, Sam Most, Sonny Rollins, Paul Gonsalves, Lucky Thompson. 

Then brass players that I like include Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Benny Green (trombone) Miles Davis, Ira Sullivan, Red Rodney, Maynard Ferguson, Jo Hunter, Shake Keane.

Piano players would be Kenny Drew, Erroll Garner, Gil Coggins, John Donaldson, Junior Mance, Eddie Higgins, Freddie Garner, Thelonious Monk. 

Bass: Ray Brown, Sirone, Charlie Haden, Scott Colley, Dave Green, Dave Holland.  

Drums: Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Spike Wells, Barry Altschul. 

Vibes: Dave  Pike, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo. 

Violin: Billy Bang, Jean Luc Ponty. 

Organ: Jimmy Smith, Wild Bill Davis.

Regarding players not living up to expectations I can’t think of many but there was one occasion when I went to the Club 43 to see Hank Mobley and he was OK but not as good as his playing on Soul Station. When I saw Paul Gonsalves with the Ellington band in Berlin he was way off mic and I couldn’t hear a note he was playing. Still, these occasions were very rare.

I’ve just realised I’ve missed some important musicians off my list that I saw live such as Roland Kirk, Warne Marsh, Leo Wright, Milt Jackson, Sherman Ferguson, Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell, Yusef Lateef, Gil Evans and Cannonball Adderley.

BSH: On a personal level, I know you play sax. Would you like to tell us a bit more about your playing side? Did you play in Kathy Stobart’s rehearsal band?

Mike: Regarding my playing.  I still play my vintage Martin tenor sax but it is a very heavy instrument and on the rare occasion that I play anywhere I sometimes have to ask for assistance in carrying the horn up or down stairs. Due to health problems I have limited opportunities to play but I like getting together with a guitarist friend and a bass player and trying out tunes  which I find very therapeutic. I sometimes play my Stagg soprano but only on numbers that suit the instrument. I have an alto sax but I’ve not played it for ages as I prefer the sound of the tenor.

I enjoyed playing in the Kathy Stobart rehearsal band and it was great playing alongside Stan Sulzmann in the sax section. I remember Kenny Wheeler being in the trumpet section and Chris Laurence was the bass player. That was the last time I played in a big band.