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.
6 comments :
Mike, you mention:
'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.'
What year would this have been and where was the rehearsal band? I'm the late Kathy Stobart's youngest son Pete and doing some research. Do yopu know if Don Weller was also in this rehearsal band at some point?
Hi Peter Great to hear from you. Re the Kathy Stobart Rehearsal Band this was during the first Newcastle Jazz Festival which I think was 1974 I had to check on the internet and there is some info on the bands that were playing there. I do not remember Don Weller being part of the rehearsal band. I recall the first tune we tried was a Tubby Hayes chart Soft and Supple and we also did Gil Evans's La Nevada plus a third tune that might have been another Gil Evans arrangement. Kathy did a great job of bandleading and there was a possibility of the band doing a spot during the festival but the musicians union decided it could not happen. I saw Kathy Stobart a few times and the last time was at Bracknell in a quintet with Lenny Best the vibes player. Cheers Mike
Thanks Mike, I assume Kath had booked/paid Stan Sulzmann, Kenny Wheeler etc. as pros
to lead each section... or have I got this wrong?
Hi Pete- Stan Sulzmann and Kenny Wheeler were part of pianist John Taylor's sextet and as well as being in the rehearsal band, they did a sextet concert which I attended. The sextet also did a workshop of sorts but was not as satisfying as the big band one that Kathy ran.I don't know if Kathy had booked/paid for Sulzmann and Wheeler or it might have been Brian Blain who was the union rep. Andy Hudson I think is still around and may be worth contacting.-Mike
Kathy was in the festival but I think played with Humph. Skidmore and Henry Lowther were also in that Festival. I have vague memories of some MU kerfuffle. I had difficulties with them due to a complaining local bandleader (Alan Nicholson) which was eventually sorted to the extent that I was actually dragged on to some MU National Committees. The aforementioned Brian Blain was instrumental in calming the waters.
Sorry but you know how vague and hazy 1974 really was.
Thanks guys
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