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| © Richard Morris |
The final
concert of the four day festival held at this venue in Cheshire over the Bank Holiday weekend. Whilst concerts on the previous three days were held indoors this
concert was outside in the courtyard with the band undercover on a stage and
the audience outside. Fortunately the rain of the morning disappeared and the
sun roared its approval of the music on show.
Whilst I knew some of the musicians who would be playing in the big band I was not aware of them all. How pleased I was to see Tom Thorp in the lineup. One of the best saxophone players in the UK and a great composer. He and his quintet Ilumetris commence touring in the autumn. I had not seen renowned saxophonist and composer Nadim Teimoori before and he stunned me with several solos. In the trumpet section were Nick Smart and Ray Butcher who I have seen play on multiple occasions. On piano Gwilym Simcock was as usual tremendous. Mixed in with these heavyweights were very talented graduates, undergraduates and younger musicians. Musical Director was Andy Scott who is a renowned saxophonist and composer equally at home in jazz and classical contexts. He is a saxophone tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music.
The first three
tunes were jazz standards from the repertoire of several big bands.
First up was the Buddy Rich number Groovin Hard which featured solos from
Jamie Gallagher on tenor sax and Gwilym on piano. Then Willowcrest a
tune by Bob Florence which featured Rob Cope on alto sax. Black Coffee with
an arrangement by Gwilym had a magnificent tenor solo by Nadim Teimoori.
Paul
Mitchell-Davidson composed Joie de Vivre for Andy Scott’s son’s 25th birthday.
He is now 30 so it has taken 5 years for the premiere of this composition. Talk
by Alan Baylock was a funky upbeat number featuring the trombone section
and a solo by Nick Smart.
Following a set
break was a fast number Sister Sadie which featured Jamie Gallagher on tenor. An arrangement of the Beatles' Norwegian Wood went
down very well with the audience in this sold out concert. Tampico named
after a city in Mexico was a tune composed by Andy Scott. This was a chilled
out tune and featured Simon Jermyn on guitar who had flown over from his base
in Berlin. Weathered is a tune composed by Gwilym Simcock.
After an opening on piano by Gwilym himself, Rob Cope soloed on alto sax. The drumming
of Josh Savage, a local Sandbach man, was prominent and indeed he starred in
this concert and indeed two concerts back to back on the Sunday evening with the
Simcock/Smart Quintet and SKW-TRIO.
Backwards
Sideman was a very swinging, funky, fast tempo number with
Jamie and Nadim both providing excellent tenor solos. The concert concluded
with Early Hours a composition by Andy Scott. The trumpet section really
enjoyed themselves on this with solos all round.
A great concert
to conclude a wonderful four day jazz festival. This was its first year and I
very much hope it will not be the last. Richard
Morris
Set list included: Groovin Hard; Willowcrest; Black Coffee; Joie de Vivre; Talk;
Sister Sadie; Norweigan Wood; Tampico;Weathered; Backwards Sideman; Early Hours
Swan and
Chequers, 16 Hightown, Sandbach, Cheshire CW11 1AE Open 7 days
Facebook: Swan & Chequers, Sandbach Instagram: @swanandchequerssandbach
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