Panama Query

Alan Rudd sent me this vintage '50s photo of the Panama Jazzmen. Alan's dad, Norman Rudd is on piano. Other band members are Joe McMullen (tpt); Ronnie McLean (tmb); Ray Jobling (bs) and Teddy Hutchinson (dms). The Panama's regular clarinetist was Stan Martin but Alan doesn't think it is Stan. Can anyone identify the clarinetist?

Lance.

A Touch of Nostalgia.

Our man in Kowloon, Colin Aitchison, sent me this bit of nostalgia - a program of a concert by the Dance Orchestra of H.M. Royal Air Force better known as The Squadronaires. Colin has also added some more vintage Melody Makers to his page.. Colin has also sent me a Harry Parry program from 1943 - go to Posters and Programmes (bottom of the page.) Lance.

NeWt + 1 @ The Bridge.

Graeme Stephen (gtr); Chris Wallace (dms); Silke Eberhard (alt/clt); Chris Grieve (tmb/elect). A Splinter/Jazz North East/ On The Outside promotion that was in fact, for much of the time slightly on the inside! As with so many contemporary bands NeWt+1 begin with meandering, ethereal, overlong overtures that serve as a prelude to the nitty gritty which is a shame as when the preliminaries are over the main course is very nicely cooked indeed! Silke Eberhard unleashed some searing solos on alto that were quite phenomenal and it was worth sitting through the build-up just for that. Graeme Stephen too is a fine guitarist who impressed me immensely. I was a bit confused by the trombonist's role as, by some form of electronic chicanery, he became a bass player! Still it seemed to work. Good drummer. Interesting. I'd have liked to have heard Silke's clarinet playing but the number 27 bus beckoned... Photos. Lance.

Jazz Café Jam

Peter Gilligan (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Ian Forbes (dms); Sarah Travena (sop); Stuart Finden (ten); Fiona Littlewood (ten/vcl); Gaby (vcl); Ray Burns (hca/acc) +.                                                                    I arrived just as Sarah Travena - looking very jazzy in short shorts - went into Besame Mucho. Sarah is good on the eye as well as the ear! Other numbers included You Don't Know What Love Is and The Nearness of You. Gaby sang Just Squeeze Me - some great harp work from Ray Burns as well as a blistering tenor solo from Stuart. All or Nothing at All and Two Sleepy People rounded off Gaby's set. Fiona was up next with a vocal take on a Monkish/Rollinsy piece that will come to me soon! This was followed by an emotionally charged But Beautiful with sympathetic soloes all round. There was more to come with a blues blast on an original by Stuart that had everyone out of their skulls. And a special mention for Ian Forbes on drums. He must be 300 years old yet he still swings - keep taking the tablets Ian.

Photos.

Lance.

Dances With Wolves - Elaine Binney and the Jazz Rascals at Dance City.

Elaine Binney (vln); Peter Skeen (gtr/vcl); Keith Mills (bs); Jae Brooks (dms).

Newcastle were playing Wolves and when The Toon are playing I tend to stay out of town (sorry Toon!)

However, I noted they were winning 2-0 at half-time so I figured the natives would be friendly - as indeed they were after winning 4-1!

Mind made up I tripped the light fantastic towards Dance City where one of my current favourite bands - Elaine Binney and the Jazz Rascals - were doing a promo in the Foyer.

Enjoying a coffee with Elaine and the band prior to their next set ladies young and not so young flitted back and forth in leotards  and other exotic costumes. I didn't mind a bit!

Back to the music!
This really is a great band - imagine if Stephane and Django had been born 50 years later they may have sounded like this!

Most of the numbers were from the CD recorded live at Durant Hall earlier this year - see review - but there were others such as Watermelon Man and Swing 42 that maybe will be on the next one.

Elaine has a great sound and she improvises on the changes with melodic flair. The band exhorted the audience to dance and then played Take Five! - not the easiest number to dance to although the handjivers back of the band managed to produce some terpsichorean feedback!

Peter Skeen not only provided the chordal foundation he also plays good solos and is a remarkable vocalist.

Keith Mills on pogo bass lays down the root (of all evil?) and solos with humour whilst Jae on drums has a contemporary feel to his playing that  gels with what the others are doing.

Great band.

The CD - Live At Durant Hall - is out now and is a fine representation of this exciting young band. Must only be a matter of time before they get taken under some promoters wing - let's hope it is in the north-east!

Photos.

Lance.

PS: Don't miss the band's official CD launch at Cafe Asia on May 1.

Latin Carnival Beats at The Sage

Last Wednesday I found myself drumming Latin/jazzy/carnival beats with the Silver programme for our 2 hour Carnival Explosion concert. We had a full house in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall and the audience appeared to be delighted by the performance. Samba drumming is great fun, energetic and noisy.

A samba band consists of large freestanding drums called surdos; snare drums; Timbale drums, which are a bit like African drums and are played with the hands; agogo bells; and tamborins, which are like tambourines, but played with a plastic stick. Can’t you almost hear the Brazilian beats from the description? The tunes consist of grooves (like the chorus of a song) and breaks (a bit like a verse). Drumming beats can be remembered by unlikely phrases such as ‘I like butter on my potato’. And how do we know what to play when? I’m not telling as that’s a secret code between us and our leaders, Phil and Nick. There’s lots of call and response between the leaders and the band, which gives the leader a chance to improvise on his snare drum.

We played 2 tunes, Samba Reggae and Samba Kala with the band and the concert also included us on steel pans, which is such a beautiful sound and the tunes have lovely Caribbean names such as ‘Coconut Woman’. So get out that old oil drum from your shed to make your own. Instructions telling you how to hammer out the drum to get the different notes are on the internet. I kid you not.

We also played large marching drums called Boomdang drums, which were invented by a man from Cumbria, and we ended the concert by playing tuned percussion such as marimbas and xylophones, in a tune with the delightful title of ‘Final Blessings’.

The concert also included 2 absolutely great bands of younger people. ‘Rhythm Nation’, a group of young boys and teenagers, played complex samba with one lad on the standard drum kit, obviously a jazz drummer in the making. The announcements were given by an efficient lad who looked about nine years old. The talent of these youngsters is frightening. The other guest band, whose name I didn’t catch, was a marching drum band of 7 players. I say marching but some of it was close to dancing, with heads bobbing alternately, a great sense of fun and lots of noise.

Catch our next performance, whenever it is. Not exactly jazz, but enough jazz-like elements for jazz fans to enjoy.

Ann Alex.

These Girls Are No Mere Butterflies!

Our gal in New Jersey sent me this clip of an all-girl band blowing up a tsunami on Sing, Sing, Sing.
Thanks Lydia.
Lance.

Customs House Big Band @ The Customs House, South Shields.

Personnel as per usual 'cept Kevin Eland on trumpet for Ken de Vere and Tom of The Pimptones on second tenor.

The boys and girls blew up their usual storm kicking off with Buddy's Love for Sale - is there a band in the world that hasn't played this chart? Maybe not but I bet few do it as precise as the CHBB!

Kevin Eland impressed with his high note excursion on Gravy Waltz. Tom the Tenor also grooved on this one.

Ruth Lambert was in good voice as she ran through Time After Time, Come Fly With Me, At Last (ten stars for this one!) I Get a Kick Out of You, Lady Is a Tramp, World on a String, Valentine, Coffee and Ok You Win.

Jill Brett had some expertly crafted - albeit familiar - alto blasts. Jill has one of the best alto sounds around.

Elaine played clarinet on Woodchoppers and Alan grabbed most of the rest.

Apart from the high noters from Kevin Michael Lamb provided measured restraint in his trumpet outings.

It was enjoyable - even comfortable - and may they continue to promote big band jazz in South Shields.

Lance.

PS: Catch them for free on Tuesday at the New Crown Hotel, South Shields. Open rehearsal 7:30pm, concert with Ruth circa 8:30pm.

PAUL EDIS SEXTET – Jazz in the café at the Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 31st March 2011.

Paul Edis (piano), Adam Sinclair (drums), Mick Shoulder (bass), Graeme Wilson (sax), Graham Hardy (trumpet/flugel), Chris Hibbard (trombone).

“A really enjoyable gig: I would go back for more of the sextet and (given a lift) some pie, beer and Hexham hospitality…” , I said, after the previous Queen’s Hall gig. I did return and, although the pie was proscribed, I managed one bottle of “Tar Bar’l”, Allendale’s gorgeous “coffee” stout, and spent two hours enjoying these fine musicians. Jazz is ‘live and well in Hexham!

As the musicians were tuning up, the room was filling up and, when the Abbey clock moved slowly to a couple of minutes past eight, spring in Hexham became Autumn in New York arranged by Graeme Wilson….who also arranged Bud Powell’s Un Poco Loco in the second set and composed Up Late which was the band’s encore.

Next up (scarcely “softly” and certainly at a cracking pace) was Softly as in a Morning Sunrise – arranged by Mick Shoulder and featuring great solos from him and from Paul. The region has a wealth of arrangers and composers as well as brilliant performers - apart from Somewhere Over the Rainbow, a request, almost everything on the programme tonight was composed or arranged by members of the band.

The pot of gold at this Rainbow’s end was back-to-back Edis’ originals: Folk Tune and Sharp 9/8: the former slow and restrained, with some lovely flugelhorn contributions; the latter featuring a “quivering” sax solo but mostly drum-driven and rhythmical, especially in the final “vamped” section where Adam really came to the fore…..just as he later came to the fours (great fun all round) in the “last” number of the night, Blues for Dad. As well as being another original this exemplified another of the positives of the programme – it was nicely varied in mood and tempo from start to finish.

The blues was preceded by Elegy – slow and quiet with mournful trombone and resonant bass just as, earlier in the second set we switched from the “modal and moody” (Paul’s words, not mine) Dorian Gray to the Donald Brown tune, Being with You. This is a bit like being parachuted from a dignified musical wake to a tea-dance which becomes, in the fruitiest of trombone solos, more like an audience with Dita van Tease! Great trombone work from Chris Hibbard – especially appreciated when one is only two feet away and nearly knee-capped by the extended slide!

I’ve left my personal favourite till last – the closing number of the first set – which was the stomping Administrate This (another Edis original). Everyone shone on this, but a special mention for Graham Hardy’s muted trumpet solo on which he (literally) rocked! I swear even the clock on the Abbey upped its tempo and smiled!

P.S For those fellow-travellers who relish the prospect of more great, local, composing, arranging and performing (not to mention cask-ales!) – check out April 10 at The Bridge which offers (if I read it right) VOTNJO showcasing Graeme Wilson’s music. Not to be missed!

Photos.

Jerry.

The East West Divide

"We're delighted to announce that in Wednesday's announcements we have been awarded an increase in our Arts Council England funding from 2012, and that Manchester City Council have also renewed our funding in recognition of the festival's achievements for the City. Thanks to all of you who voiced your support - it's much appreciated, and what a great result in such challenging times." ----- The North-east based Jazz Action have had their budget cut by about 7%. Lance.