Christine Britland (MD); Harriet Macrae, Frank Britland, Neil Brodie, Alison MacKay (trumpets); Jonathan Tyndale, Eleanor 'Nell' Gammon, James Joy, John Mackay, Tony Slater, Dave Bowman (trombones); Richard Jones, Dave Vaughan, Mark Marsden (alto sax) Dave Bell, Ben Hastings (tenor sax); Paula Bailey (baritone sax); Garry Hadfield (keys); Dave Fisher (guitar); Ron Smith (bass); Sean Steel (drums); Barry Davis, Dave Vaughan, Eleanor 'Nell' Gammon (vocals)
The 20-piece band + vocalists led by trombonist Christine Britland played a mixed and well thought out selection of numbers, many with a distinctive Christmas theme, to a good sized and enthusiastic audience.
Starting the night with their signature tune Strike up the Band and the medium swing number Brown Baggin' it clearly showed that this is a well-rehearsed band.
Barry Davis came up to sing Billy Hayes' Blue Christmas famously sung by Elvis Presley. With both band and audience participation, Barry then sang Minnie The Moocher.
The rhythm section provided a driving Latin feel for the brass sections to play a fine version of Tank, which included a bari sax solo from Paula Bailey, and was followed by the Sammy Nestico arrangement of Queen Bee.
What A Wonderful World with its fine trumpet work was beautifully played and included an impressive vocal from Dave Vaughan. Dave then went on to sing the Newley and Bricusse show song Feeling Good first performed by Cy Grant.
Two instrumentals Sleigh Ride and Struttin' with Some Barbecue were followed by Barry singing Silver Bells and the Irving Berlin standard Blue Skies. Larry Barton's Area 51 was really swinging and included a trumpet solo from Neil Brodie and a fine sax solo.
The intro to Tweet Fatigue by the sax section led to trumpet and sax solos and rich ensemble playing given a lot of depth by the 'bones.
An impressive big band version of Moondance, with
a fine trombone solo from Dave Bowman, before Barry sang another seasonal
song - The Man with the Bag bringing the first set to a close.
The second set opened with a medley of Christmas songs that ended appropriately enough, albeit somewhat prematurely, with Auld Lang Syne.
Baker Street with the traditional sax solo from Ben Hastings was followed by Barry singing Jim Croce's Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and another swinging and driving number - Ain't That a Kick in the Head?
American Patrol was well played in true Glenn Miller style before returning to the Christmas theme with Frosty the Snowman. A pleasant surprise came when Nell from the trombone section stepped up for the first time in front of a big band to sing Santa Baby.
The Sammy Nestico arrangement of Hayburner included some fine piano work from Garry Hadfield. Fat Cat came next with its booting sax solo and drum work from Sean Steel.
An interesting orchestral arrangement of the Shirley Bassey number Hey Big Spender sung by Barry was followed by You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You.
Then two more Christmas numbers Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow and a reprise of Sleigh Ride before Dave sang Stray Cat Strut with its drum intro and solid sax solo from Richard Jones.
A final Christmas song, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, featured a vocal duet from Barry and Dave which was supposed to finish the night but, by popular demand, an encore in the shape of The Jazz Police was a great cracking big band number to bring the night to a close.
Always a pleasure to have this band of talented musicians entertaining us at Christmas as they have done so for so many years. I must apologise for missing some of the soloists' contributions as I was unable to identify them all. Good luck to trombonist/singer Nell the youngest member and one of Christine's star pupils with her ABRSM grade 8 performance exam on trombone.
The band will be playing at Dorman's again in June as part of a war remembrance event and in 1940s' style and fashion.
Many thanks as usual to the staff of Dorman's Club in enabling us to run the jazz club so successfully. Ron Hampton
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