Peter
Morgan (MD/bass trombone); Keiran Parnaby, Eddie Bellis, Pete Smith
(trombones); Stephen Crackett, Ian Robinson, Ken DeVere, Colin Moore
(trumpets); Alan Marshall, Jo Adams, Dan Johnson, Josh Bentham, Russell
Rogers (saxes); John Stephenson (piano); Phil Noble (bass); Roger Loxley
(drums); Paul Donnelly (guitar); Jan Spencelayh (vocals)
No, there was no
Puccini in tonight’s set-list (there was some Fauré of which more later) but
Nessun Dorma popped into my head at the start of this excellent and varied
musical evening when my reverie was pleasantly shattered by a full-on blast (17
instruments in a relatively small hall) of Libertango. And it popped
into my head again at the end when Peter Morgan (big band music’s answer to
Jack Dee?) announced that they would not close with a rousing finale to “send
you home with a headache”, instead they would “send you to sleep” with a
gentle, no vocals, version of Easy Street. It was gentle but, graced as
it was with some contemplative tenor sax soloing from the outstanding Dan
Johnson, no-one slept!
Libertango was
arranged by the band’s own Ian Robinson who later did most of the heavy lifting
on the Lennie Niehaus (“difficult”) ballad, Monday’s Child, as well as
being the arranger of Fauré’s Pavane which featured towards the end of
the gig. I enjoyed the arrangement but could not remember if I actually knew
the original so I did some homework and found that it was known to me though I
could not have put a name to it. Memory refreshed, I can state that the MD’s
characteristic dismissal (“it’ll be nothing like the original!”) was most
certainly slanderous!
The first set
exemplified how varied were tonight’s music choices with tango, bossa nova,
swing and some Norah Jones (how do you categorise her?) for good measure.
Vocalist, Jan Spencelayh, seemed nervous on her first two numbers, Masquerade
and Don’t Know Why, – almost overwhelmed by the volume of sound behind
her (big band, small hall) but got into her stride on My Funny Valentine
(don’t you just love those lyrics?) and grew in confidence to swing through Lullaby
of Birdland, sway through Sway and belt out a blousy, brassy, sassy Perhaps,
Perhaps, Perhaps as the penultimate tune of the night. Well done!
My favourite
number in the first set was the bluesy, sax-heavy version of Feeling Good,
driven by extra heft from electric bass, baritone sax and bass trombone.
Definitely more Simone than Tony Newley and featuring an alto sax solo from
Alan Marshall. Earlier, Eddie Bellis had soloed on 720 in the Books
while later, Paul Donnelly got deserved applause for his guitar solo on Blue
Bossa. Despite feeling “a little nervous” at his MD’s wind-ups, it was John
Stephenson’s time to shine on Souvenir. It was easy to see why the
entire rhythm section might feel somewhat exposed in this arrangement which
alternated between full-blast ensemble playing and prolonged quiet sections
featuring only tinkling piano, bass and the quietest of brush-work on the
drums. I don’t think I’ve heard Souvenir before but in this version it
certainly is memorable!
There were other
tunes – more Niehaus, some Nestico, some Miller – and other excellent solos. My
apologies for my inability, here, to squeeze in a mention for everything and
everyone contributing to an outstanding selection (18 tunes in all?) which was
much appreciated by the Crook regulars. Many thanks, again, to the volunteers
at Crook who continue to make these things happen.
P.S. Upcoming
things are Paul Edis/Vasilis Xenopoulos then Jazzy Christmas. Check it out…..Jerry
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