Olly Styles (tenor sax); Jacob Egglestone (guitar); Louis Wild (keyboards); Jamie Watkins (bass guitar); Bailey Rudd (drums)
Good evening said Olly Styles. It was ten in the morning. In a nanosecond our examinee corrected himself...Good morning! Tenor saxophonist Olly looked surprisingly spritely at this most unlikely jazz hour. Ditto his bandmates, familiar names all - Jacob, Louis, Jamie and Bailey. A stage 2, ie second year, student, Olly has been making a big impression on the local jazz scene, notably at the Black Swan jam session and on gigs with Nauta (Olly's rebranded band for this morning's recital).
In a nice touch, Olly's programme notes departed from the formality one expects on an occasion such as this. Not for him O. Styles, tenor saxophone etc. Instead, Olly opted for Olly Styles + The Boys Live @ The Basement...In his notes Olly's confided: I prefer playing and performing in the evening accompanied by a pint or a few. A pint would have to wait, for now Olly's examination would comprise three compositions: Four (comp. M. Davis); Song for Bilbao (comp. P. Metheny) and Crush (comp. B. Reynolds).
Out front, confident, Olly and 'the boys' despatched Four to the boundary. An excellent start. Pat Metheny's Song for Bilbao as performed by Michael Brecker (Olly describing the late, great American saxophonist as 'a god'), really took off, with excellent solos by Olly and guitarist Jacob Egglestone. As a second year student, Olly is more than impressive and with a third and final academic year ahead of him, it's all but certain he will develop into a first class musician. As if to confirm matters, Crush produced yet more excellent tenor saxophone playing.
Olly's notes concluded: Finally, I would like to thank all of you for coming and for getting out of bed so early...I greatly appreciate it. It was worth the effort, be sure to catch Olly at the Black Swan jam session, preferably sitting with 'a pint or few'. Russell
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