Kevin Eland (trumpet, flugel); Josh Bentham (tenor/soprano saxes, flute); Paul Donnelly (guitar); Dave Archbold (keys); John Daniel (bass); Jan Spencelayh (vocals); Alex Cromarty (drums/vocals).
This guest band of well known and respected local jazz musicians led by Kevin Eland gave an enthusiastic audience a night of diverse well-arranged, exciting jazz.
Curious George from the film of the same name was a good choice to start the night. The full band intro was followed by solos all round clearly showing we were in for an evening of high quality jazz.
A nice arrangement of Sonny Rollins' Doxy was well played before Jan then took to the stage to sing one of Ella Fitzgerald's favourite songs Angel Eyes beautifully sung with a nice piano intro from Dave and mellow solos from Josh on tenor Kevin on flugel and fine guitar work from Paul.
Blue Daniel included a tasty solo from Josh on soprano sax. Jan then returned to the stage to sing the popular jazz standard S'wonderful with great backing from the band.
The beautiful Lucio Dalla's Caruso was then played very effectively by a trio consisting of Kevin on muted trumpet, Dave on keys and John on bass.
Jan then sang Eso Beso, a number associated with Paul Anka, backed by a great Latin rhythm set by Alex on drums, John on bass as well as lively guitar, tenor sax and trumpet solos.
Continuing the Latin theme Jan sang Half A Minute with excellent guitar, flugel, tenor sax and piano solos.
All Blues gave an opportunity for all the musicians to play some tasty, improvised, blues solos which they duly did.
Bringing the first set to a close, Stevie Wonder's I Wish was well sung by Alex with interesting solos all round.
The second set began with an impressive and moving Hymn to Freedom with a fine piano solo from Dave and some great flute from Josh.
An interesting and original up tempo Latin composition Impensando by Paul Busby was well played by all the band followed by the Peggy Lee version of Black Coffee, sung with feeling by Jan and included excellent tenor sax work from Josh and trumpet from Kevin.
Disney's Beauty And The Beast with fine flugel playing from Kevin, piano from Dave, tenor from Josh and guitar from Paul made for a great number. Alex then sang the Bill Withers number Lovely Day with fine support from the band.
Jan sang Donald Fagan's Walk Between the Raindrops, and Josh soloed on soprano sax. Paul was then featured playing Santana's version of She's Not There. His great guitar work aided by driving bass and drums and nice singing from Jan.
The night finished in great style with Jan singing a powerful Aretha Franklin number Dr Feelgood with both band and audience going out on a high.
An excellent guest band led by Kevin Eland consisting of first class musicians playing to an enthusiastic audience made for a great night of music. A special thanks to Stephen Spencelayh for looking after the vocal sound system.
Thanks also to the staff of Dorman/s Club for their continued support for the jazz night. Ron Hampton
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