As well as doing the setlist below, Steve Jordan has made the following comment about the gig: “Jo Harrop was a great hit with the audience, myself included, with her seductive phrasing and warm delivery – one of the very best jazz vocalists that I have ever heard. Of course, this was all complimented superbly by the other musicians especially Paul Edis’s extraordinary pianism and Nigel Price’s mellifluous guitar-playing. A special mention also to Simon Thorpe who never disappoints.”
I agree.
One of the trials of doing publicity is hunting for information about people. it helps if you have the right name. We were given Peter Adams for the drummer, could find nothing. His name is Peter Adam Hill, and there is lots out there. So there should be. Peter played the room beautifully – he is an honest listening musician and I would like to see him back again . He made Nigel grin trading riffs. Apologies, Peter, about the misnaming.
I should also add that Simon was a very last minute dep, That is still magic to me. I was expecting a difficult sound check. It took, as part of their rehearsal, about 5 minutes. Nobody commented on the sound. I got it right. There is a trick to this: make your ears do their research before the gig. In this case it was a real pleasure.
Highlights? To start, the programme design. It was varied in tempo and mood, and showed off Jo’s range of tone and sensibility. The contrast between “Ain’t Got Nothing but the Blues”, which had a lovely growl to it, the sweetness of “Our Love is Here To Stay”, and the up-beat “Secret Love” showed off that range. Jo is a great lyricist. Her collaborations with Paul, Hannah Vasanth and Natalie Williams were most enjoyable.
During the rehearsal, Nigel took a moment to introduce the other instrumentalists to “Four On Six”, which they played at the start of the second set. “Brilliant” said the chap sitting next to the sound check. Indeed it was. Their accompaniment was great, and Jo gave the lads lots of room to blow all through the evening. She had one tune with just Paul, and one with just Nigel. You do that and you have nowhere to hide, In fact, those tunes were stunning collaborations.
Our next gig is on the 11th of October, and what a crew! Andrew Cleyndert leads on bass, Mark Edwards on piano, Martin Shaw on trumpet and flugelhorn and Colin Oxley on guitar. it will be a feast for their and our soul.
Take care,
Dave
JO HARROP QT PLUS NIGEL PRICE
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 27/09/23
How Deep Is the Ocean? (Irving Berlin) Performed as an instrumental before Jo Harrop joined the band
Easy To Love (Cole Porter)
Short Story (Paul Edis/Kate Edis)
Time After Time (Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn)
Ain’t Got Nothing But The Blues (Duke Ellington)
Our Love Is Here To Stay (Gershwin)
You’ll Never Be Lonely in Soho (Edis/Harrop)
Charade (Henry Mancini) from the film of the same name
No Moon At All (Red Evans/David Mann)
* * * * * * *
Four On Six (Wes Montgomery) Performed as an instrumental before Jo Harrop, once again, joined the band
Red Mary Janes and A Brand New Hat (Jo Harrop, Hannah Vasanth, Natalie Williams)
If Ever I Would Leave You (Lerner/Loewe)
East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon (Brooks Bowman)
The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants (Jo Harrop, Hannah Vasanth)
Early Autumn (Woody Herman)
Secret Love (Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster) – as sung by Doris Day in the film, Calamity Jane
Only Spring Will Decide (Paul Edis/Jo Harrop)
On The Street Where You Live (Lerner/Loewe)
Fine and Mellow (Billie Holiday)
ENCORE:It’s That Old Devil Moon (Burton Lane/E.Y. Harburg)
Thoughts on Loz Speyer’s “Time Zone”, 13 September 2023
The earlier writeup for this gig made me expect something different and original, and I was not disappointed (you can see that writeup here). Loz Speyer gave us a programme which varied from fun to profound. He writes with freedom in the chording and time signatures, and uses a wide variety of rhythms. The rhythms came mostly from the Cuban tradition, where Loz spent some of his life.
“Lost at Sea” was a memorial for the dead from boat crossings around the world. It was very affecting. There were shocks of pitch, chording and volume changes that got to you. The quiet but dissonant quiet periods and the heavier sections were evocative of what the boats were facing.
Loz wanted us to get up and dance for one number. Our audience? Perhaps not. The last number, “Dalston Carnival” almost did it: it was joyous. Friedrich Nietzsche’s comment, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” transports into Cuban as “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Fat”, another joyous song.
What a fascinating use of time signatures, Loz has. There was lots of 4/4 and a bit of 3/4, but 11/16 takes a chorus to get into. But then is just felt right in the song. There were a couple of 10/8 (or 2*5/4?) tunes as well.
The excellent crew were Loz on trumpet and flugel, Martin Hathaway on sax and bass clarinet, Chris Allard on guitar, Dave Manington on bass, Satin Singh on congas and Anmol Mohara on drums. If I had to pick up one thing from the excellent work of them all, I would choose Anmol and Satin who had a couple of trading 4s and 2s which were delightful.
Thanks to Miles’ daughter for the set list, setting and rolling cables, helping with everything else, and suffering listening to my anecdotes.
On Wednesday 27 September, the wonderful Jo Harrop will be leading a tribute to great voices in jazz. If you have not heard her before, you have been missing a fine and flexible singer with a deep musical understanding of the songs. Her normal quartet has Paul Edie on piano, Jihad Darwish on bass and Peter Adams on drums, but for us she has added our good friend and amazing guitarist, Nigel Price. Don’t miss it.
Setlist for Loz Speyer’s “Time Zone” – 13 September 2023
The pandemic was extremely hard on artists of all kinds: theatre, on and off the stage, for example. It was very difficult for musicians, but many of them found good ways to use the time. One of the best of these was the genesis and work that produced Five-Way Split. Quentin Collins (trumpet and flugel), Vasilis Xenopoulos(tenor sax), Rob Barron(piano), Máyás Hofecker (double bass) and Matt Home (drums) created the band. They wrote music for it, recorded it, and over time produced an excellent CD of their own tunes, and some standards.
They played for us last Wednesday. What a delight not to see music stands! In fact, Rob wanted the piano front off, and asked for the music stand that sits on the open piano. He looked at it for a minute, and realized that they knew the music, so the stand was put away. What was magical was the combination of great unity and precision of the five coupled with the freedom to improvise in such a lyrical way.
The standard of writing was very high throughout the gig. The first number, Vasilis’s tribute to Wayne Shorter, “Out of Waynes Bag”, brought us into the heart of the band’s music.
Arranging is a subtle art, and the band is very good at it. Solos flowed out of the heads beautifully. Quentin’s solo with the Harmon mute in “All The Way” was a highlight for me, but every solo shone. I like to listen to the accompaniments to solos, and these were very good, lots of careful listening. But the solos grabbed my attention pretty well totally.
Thanks to Steve Jordan for producing the setlist below. He agreed, a great gig, thank you , guys,
The next gig is on Wednesday, 13 September. Loz Speyer’s “Time Zone”will have us travel with Cuban music around the world. It will be grand, don’t miss it.
Take care,
Dave
FIVE-WAY SPLIT
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 23/08/23
Out of Wayne’s Bag (Xenopoulos)
Lingua Franca (Barron)
Mr Birthday Waltz (Collins)
Asymphonatic (Collins)
Evidently (Barron)
* * * * * * *
All The Way (Jimmy Van Heusen/Sam Cahn) – a song made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1957 which was introduced in the film The Joker Is Wild. This arrangement was by Rob Barron.
Sunday in New York (Peter Nero and Carroll Coates ) – a song written for the 1963 movie of the same name. It was sung by Mel Tormé in the film which starred Jane Fonda.
San Sebastian (Xenopoulos) – named after the city in the Basque region of Spain
Theme For Ernie (Fred Lacey) – covered by John Coltrane amongst others
Encounter (Mike LeDonne) – based on the chord changes of Love for Sale
Dave Lyons was absent from this gig and is already aware that he missed a corker. We will see you soon, Dave, and wish you well. This was a standout gig of the season for which I have written a review built around the setlist.
Last night, we had a fine quintet of musicians under the co-leadership of Simon Spillett and Pete Long, each one an uncompromising powerhouse on tenor sax, paying tribute to The Jazz Couriers, the UK band that emerged in the late 1950s. Spillett is well-known as the biographer and keeper of the flame of the great tenorist, Tubby Hayes, who formed one half of the frontline of the Jazz Couriers along with Ronnie Scott. Spillett’s close attention to the Hayes legacy has influenced his own playing stance and we were honoured (yes!) to hear what seemed to my ears to be the living embodiment of Tubby Hayes, who died at the absurdly early age of 38 fifty years ago this year. Alongside, we had award-winning repertory bandleader, Pete Long, taking the role of Ronnie Scott, dazzling us with solos galore and flashing a knowing grin at the audience each time, as if to say, “Beat that!” The rhythm section was stunning and versatile in complimenting the two strong tenorists extremely well, but also as a trio when Spillett and Long took a well-earned rest during some numbers. Our pianist was Pete Billington, depping effortlessly and with a beautiful lyricism on many numbers; Alec Dankworth, a truly world-class double bass player who worked the whole length of the instrument and left me reeling each time he took a lead; the wizard that is Pete Cater showing us on many occasions why he is so much in-demand with his controlled pyrotechnics on drums.
The band kicked off with two hard and fast numbers to take us through a rollercoaster ride of emotions to set the scene: the eponymous (as Simon said, “imaginatively titled”) ‘The Jazz Couriers’ followed by the first ever recorded track of the band, ‘Through the Night Roared the Overland Express’, with both tenorists creating a wall of sound as the rhythm section worked busily almost just to keep up.
Bringing the tempo and volume down just a shade, we had ‘Southern Suite Parts One and Three’, a mini masterpiece of big band scoring, written by Hayes and here adapted for quintet, which was originally written for a BBC broadcast.
Throughout both sets, the two tenorists took it in turns to present anecdotes on the background to each number and its place in the career of The Jazz Couriers, as well as the development of post-war British Jazz generally. If this sounds dry, think again. Both Spillett and Long are charismatic performers gifted with a dry observational wit. Simon has immense skill in making the history of jazz come alive, using his infectious passion to explain how British Jazz after the war, stuck in the dance band genre, was languishing behind Swing era American Jazz, until the likes of Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Jimmy Deuchar and a few others arrived on the scene.
As if on cue, the band treat us to the calming, melodic ‘Yesterdays’ by Jerome Kern. The tenors state the theme, then Long takes an excellent solo and soon after Billington’s groove-laden solo leads into an ‘out’ chorus by the two tenors. The first set concludes with Tubby Hayes’ quickstep arrangement of Gershwin’s ‘Love Walked In’.
While the double act of Spillett and Long pays homage to the music of the Jazz Couriers, they are fully aware that they are there to entertain. The audience are kept amused throughout by banter and quips; Long is whips up the audience until they roar and exuberant cheers and cries from both Spillett and Long push the band to ever-higher states of euphoria. This stuff is not for the faint of heart!
The second set drives from the outset with the Silveresque ‘Mirage’, a 1958 composition by Tubby Hayes, already showing his ease with the hard-bop genre. Following on from this is Victor Feldman’s ‘Karen’, dedicated to his niece, which originally featured Tubby Hayes on tenor in Feldman’s big band. Feldman’s vibraphone was an inspiration to Tubby, so much so that one night, when Feldman was late arriving for a club date at the Flamingo club, Hayes took over and played an impromptu version of Bags Groove on vibes to an astonished crowd! Within months, Tubby had begun to play the instrument on his own gigs, astounding everyone. Simon took barely hidden delight in relating the inspiration for a Jazz Couriers favourite and perfect slice of hard bop penned by Tubby, ‘The Serpent’. The Hayes composition is one which could easily pass for the work of Horace Silver and was allegedly dedicated to the outsized manhood of jazz promoter, Bix Curtis. The pace is brought down again with a ballad medley of ‘Moonlight in Vermont’, with Long leading on tenor before segueing into ‘But, Beautiful’ with Spillett taking the lead; both tenorists show how they can play sensitively and sensuously. Jimmy Deucar’s steaming ‘Suddenly last Tuesday’, a reworking of Get Happy, is officially the last number of the set and showcases the talents of each member of the band, not least those of the rhythm section: Pete Billington drawing calls of encouragement and excitement from Long; Alec Dankworth plucking the bass at an impressive pace and Pete Cater excelling and matching the near superhuman stamina of Long and Spillett.
The band had worked themselves ragged but gave us the encore we demanded: a danceband-era workout by Tubby Hayes called ‘Take Your Partners For The Blues’. At the beginning of the gig, Pete Long quipped that bands only play twice at the Fleece, once on the way up and once on the way down and then followed with “It’s good to be back”. He really was joking – our appreciative audience went home glowing and buzzing. For some of them, including an older couple that I sat next to, this brought back vivid memories of the Flamingo Club and Ronnie Scott’s at Gerard St when this reviewer was just a toddler!
In two weeks’ time, on Wednesday 23rd August, we welcome another quintet, Five-Way Split. Co-led by two great musicians, Quentin Collins on trumpet and flugelhorn and Vasilis Xenopoulos on tenor sax, with the golden touch of Rob Barron on piano, virtuosic bassist Mátyás Hofecker and rock-solid drummer Matt Home, Five-Way Split presents a sound that respects the tradition of the hard-bop era whilst also bringing it up to date for today’s audience. With an extensive repertoire of hip material by greats like Jimmy Heath, Cedar Walton and Horace Silver, expect a night of the best swinging and soulful music.
What a wonderful gig, loved by our listening audience. They really do listen.
You learn something new every gig. A bigsby is a lever on a guitar that can raise or lower its pitch by a bit. Rob Luft make beautiful use of his. He added timbre to individual notes as well as using it for tremolo or other effects. Rob was one of the leaders of the band. What a stunning guitarist he is. He writes well too, see Steve’s setlist entry below, “Gayetski”. I loved watching him use the bigsby and magically switching from plectrum to fingering. It is not often an intro gets hoots and applause, but two of his did.
The other leader was Dave O’Higgins, and it was such a pleasure to have him back with us. His tenor style suited the very different styles of the Coltrane and Monk music that they played. His blues “One for Six”, about his residence at the 606 club was my pick of the evening. Like on all the tunes, everyone got a chance to blow. It just seemed to me to be the cherry on a very good cake.
The two leaders shared the announcement mic with stories about the songs, very interesting and often very funny. I won’t say that they could have a career in stand-up comedy, but they were very entertaining.
Ross Stanley was trapped in Spain, so on the very morning, Jim Watson got a request to play piano for us. The music we had was far from trivial, but Jim handled it with aplomb. He had to read, of course, which from time to time left his accompaniment a little stylistically different from his colleagues. His solos were grand, and met with loud approval from our audience.
Luke Fowler is embedded in the band. You could see him concentrating, often with a big smile, on the soloist. But also, on the accompaniment. There is a real rapport between him and the drummer. He showed us again what a fine soloist he is, but he is so strong as the heartbeat of the band.
There is a very sensitive side to the drumming of Rod Youngs. Like Luke, he was watching each member of the band like a hawk. I do love a drummer that plays the room so accurately. He had a couple of spectacular solos. His use of brushes (both ends!) is amazing.
That left the sound to talk about. We had rigged micing all of the instruments except the drums, with talk mics for Dave and Rob. All but Luke had fold-back speakers. We ended up with the only visible mic was the shared talk mic. The band was totally acoustic except for a tiny boost for the piano. The monitors were still in place, but Daves was unplugged. It sounded lovely.
The next gig has Simon Spillett and Pete Long doing the Jazz Couriers two tenors thing. Rob Barron will be on piano, Alec Dankworth on bass and Pete Cater on drums. We would love to see you with us.
Take care
Dave
O’HIGGINS & LUFT: “PLUTO”
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 26/07/23
Pluto (O’Higgins)
Gayetski (Luft) – a composition dedicated to recently deceased, Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz and Astrud’s husband, João Gilberto, all of whom famously collaborated on The Girl From Ipanema. Getz, was born Stanley Gayetski; his grandparents were Ukrainian Jewish refugees who migrated to Whitechapel in the East End of London to escape the anti-Jewish pogroms.
This gig was a joy. They came, they sang, they conquered.Sarah Jane Morris had all her power, and we loved her close communication with the audience, who reciprocated in song themselves.
Steve’s set list is below, so I can talk about the musicians. First the newbie: we would be delighted to have Marcus Bonfanti back. He is a superbly skilled guitarist, whether finger or plectrum or steel. He had a solo on “Lovely Day” that was light, textured and really beautiful. All his solos were inventive. His accompaniment was thoughtful and interesting. As a backing vocalist, his voice provided perfect harmonies with Sarah’s voice.
Tony Rémy is simply an outstanding world class guitarist. I was surprised to see him using a capo on the first number. Tony needs a capo? What do I know? Solo after solo, Tony’s guitar sang to us. “Up From the Sky’s” gave a whole new take on this Hendrix song. Tony usually set the vibe, and he and Marcus listened very closely to each other and used each other, so their accompaniment form was contrapuntal. Tony’s basso was only heard in a few numbers, but it added just the right support to the songs he sang in.
Sarah used to introduce Henry Thomas as “The Mighty”, and he still is. In the first set he played electric guitar. In the second set he also played with a fretless acoustic bass, which has a wonderful sound: softer, warmer, but just as clear as the electric. His solos on “Head and Heart” and “Lovely Day” were amazing. He is a great backing singer. I was glad of the chance to talk to Henry after the gig. His understanding of music, composition and indeed the current way of the world is quite profound. Conversations with Henry are to be treasured.
What can I say about Sarah Jane Morris that has not been said a thousand times? If you have never seen her before, she can be a bit overwhelming. There were a few such in the audience, but they soon be came like the rest, lovers of her work. She has an immense voice, a big range and lots of tonalities. The commitment she has to the music and what it means is clear. One reason she is loved is that she works so well with an audience. We were all singing in the second half, to her direction.
Our next gig will be on Wednesday 26 July, – O’Higgins & Luft will present work from their album Pluto. This is straight-ahead modern jazz in the African-American tradition, coming from the Monk and Trane lineage, but not bound to emulating it. The musicians are Dave O’Higgins Tenor sax, Rob Luft Guitar, Ross Stanley Piano, Luke Fowler Bass and Rod Youngs Drums. It will be a cracker, don’t miss it.
Take care,
Dave
SARAH-JANE MORRIS: “SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW”
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 12/07/23
All songs from the first set, as well as the encore, were written and originally sperformed by the late, great John Martyn.
Fairytale Lullaby
Couldn’t Love You More
Head and Heart
One World
Sweet Little Mystery
May You Never
Over The Hill
* * * * * * *
On My Way To You (Morris/Remy)
Feel The Love (Morris/Remy)
Imagine (John Lennon)
Lovely Day (Bill Withers)
Up From The Skies (Jimi Hendrix)
Piece of My Heart (Jerry Ragovoy/Bert Berns) – originally recorded by Erma Franklin, Aretha’s older sister, in 1967 but better known from the version by Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin on lead vocals.
It is amazing to me that in one year, 1959, so many important things have happened. The list on Wikipedia goes on for pages: The European Court of Human Rights is established; we lose Buddy Holly; Lunar 4 goes to the moon; Nottingham Forest beats Luton in the FA cup; the Mini is released.
And “Kind of Blue” is released; one collection that changed the music in the multitude of masterly jazz compositions that year.
Bryan Corbett has designed a beautiful show of great variety from the music of 1959. He gives us Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, Horace Silver, Ornette Coleman and more. I loved it all, but “Flamenco Sketches” as played by this quintet will stay with me.
And he plays both trumpet and flugel like an angel. His technique is superb, his tonality is sweet and clear. The soul in his mind comes out clearly in his playing. The listening between Bryan and his colleagues is almost palpable.
Chris Bowden is a wonderful altoist. He is serious, fast and slow, inventive and fun. Matt Ratcliffe’s piano obligatos are delightful. Carl Hemmingsley is the perfect drummer for the group.
The joker in the pack is Tom Hill. He presented “Fables of Faubus”, told bad jokes very well, and was a stunning bassist.
I will remember this gig with pleasure. They honoured the intentions of the composers while remaining theirselves. Unfortunately I will also remember the minor disasters on the sound desk. And I was the sound guy
The setlist below is compiled by Steve Jordan, for which thanks.
The next gig is a doozy, The power of nature that is Sarah Jane Morris with her favourite team: Tim Cansfield and Tony Remy on Guitars, and Henry Thomas on bass guitar. See you then.
Take care,
Dave
THE HI-FLY QUINTET
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 28/06/23;
So What (Gil Evans/Miles Davis) from ‘Kind of Blue’
No Problem (Duke Jordan) from ‘Flight to Jordan’
Flamenco Sketches (Gil Evans/Miles Davis) from ‘Kind of Blue’
Hi-Fly (Randy Weston) from ‘The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco
Take Five (Paul Desmond) from ‘Time Out’ by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Sister Sadie (Horace Silver) from ‘Blowin’ The Blues Away’
* * * * * * *
Lonely Woman (Ornette Coleman) from ‘The Shape of Jazz To Come’/ Concierto de Aranjuez (Joaquin Rodrigo) from ‘Sketches of Spain’ by Miles Davis
Fables of Faubus (Charles Mingus) from ‘Mingus Ah Um’
Stolen Moments (Oliver Nelson) from ‘Blues and the Abstract Truth’. The tune was originally recorded in 1959
Blues March (Benny Golson) from ‘Moanin’’ by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
ENCORE: Juicy Lucy (Horace Silver) from ‘Finger Poppin’’
All albums were released in 1959 except for ‘Blues and the Abstract Truth’ although an earlier version of the tune was recorded in 1959.
When musicians are truly enjoying their work, the audience feels it, and listen carefully. Part of the joy is to see the musicians listening to each other. Add to that the magic of world class musicianship, with ideas and riff tumbling out of their axes.
In other words, it was a superb gig from all four: John Etheridge on guitars, Theo Travis on tenor sax and flute, organist Pete Whittaker and George Double on drums.
It was structured as a typical Etheridge gig, We had music from many people, including one each from John and Theo. There was lots of off the cuff comments from John, very funny. He was careful to announce the tunes. The first tune of the second set was a solo by John, also typical. They had an encore in their pockets, and it was needed.
The encore was “Summertime”, and they played that lovely Gershwin tune as if they had just read the lyrics again. It got me thinking: there is one word in that song which makes it sad and difficult. The word is “Until”: safe until the child rises up singing. John’s solo was “God Bless the Child”. Is he thinking about children? The solo was truly beautiful, without a lot of added tech.
Theo’s “Three People” was lovely: he has such a lyrical flow in his solos. I wonder who the three people were: I might have liked to know them.
The structure of the gig allowed everybody room to blow, and the blowing was magnificent. I can still hear Theo’s solo on “Off the Wagon”, Pete on “I’m Coming Home”, George on “Sweet Emma”.
Do not miss the next gig, ‘Bryan Corbett’s “Hi-Fly” Quintet’. This marvellous trumpeter was booked for a gig during the pandemic; a rebook was cancelled due to illness. So on
June 28th, we will finally get to hear him. He has a way with tonality like no other trumpeter.
Thanks to Steve Jordan for the set list.
Take care,
Dave
JOHN ETHERIDGE/THEO TRAVIS QUARTET
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 14/06/23
Take a Walk (Michael Brecker)
Georgia on my Mind (Hoagy Carmichael)
Off the Wagon (Tubby Hayes)
In A Sentimental Mood (Duke Ellington)
Sweet Emma (Nat Adderley) as adapted by John Scofield
Friday Night at the Cadillac Club (Bob Berg).
* * * * * * *
God Bless The Child – Etheridge solo (Billie Holiday/A Herzog Jr)
Do Like Eddie (John Scofield)
Three People (Theo Travis)
There Is No Greater Love (Isham Jones/Marty Symes)
(I normally put together a setlist for each gig that I attend at Fleece Jazz . Dave Lyons is currently on holiday in Canada and so it falls to me to write this week’s review built around the setlist.)
Last night, we had a fine quintet of musicians under the direction of Nick Tomalin, performing and interpreting the music of British pianist, George Shearing. The band features the original instrumentation of the Shearing quintet, including guitar and vibraphone and performs music ranging from Shearing’s best-known tunes like ‘Lullaby of Birdland’ and ‘Conception’ along with less well-known compositions and arrangements.
The “Shades of Shearing” project is very much a labour of love: the respect and admiration for Shearing and his music from all five musicians is palpable throughout the evening’s performance. For this reviewer, it was a revelation having previously felt little connection with Shearing’s music aside from the odd cover such as Ella singing ‘Lullaby of Birdland’. Shades of Shearing led me to re-evaluate this and realise that there was more depth to George’s music as well as a real jazz sensibility.
The opener, ‘September in the Rain’, combining radio-friendly melodicism with full-blooded bebop, was a big hit for George in 1949, selling nearly a million copies. The head is played in the famous ‘Shearing Style’ with Nat Steele on vibes and Dave Warren on guitar playing the melody an octave apart and Nick Tomalin playing block chords behind them. During the second chorus Tomalin demonstrates the ‘locked hands’ style of George Shearing and plays some technically demanding double-time passages.
Throughout the gig, Nick explains the background to each song in the context of Shearing’s life and work. After the first number, he tells us about the challenging circumstances in young George’s life: the youngest of nine children; blind from birth; his father delivering coal and his mother cleaning trains for a living. George was something of a musical prodigy as he was offered various scholarships to continue his musical education. In true jazz style though, young George instead got a job playing piano for “25 bob a week” (25 shillings or £1.25 in today’s money) at the local pub. He first visited America in 1946 and moved there permanently the following year, arriving at the height of the bebop boom.
There is plenty of opportunity for each musician in the “Shades of Shearing” quintet to demonstrate his chops and that is exploited to the full in the next number, ‘Consternation’. Nat Steele is a vigorous, resourceful performer who demonstrated his enormous prowess on vibes throughout the evening – all eyes were on his speed and dexterity as he fronted the band. Dave Warren’s guitar work echoed this with a distinct bebop style which reminded me of Grant Green’s lithe, loose, slightly bluesy playing. Once again, we had the pleasure of hearing Luke Fowler on double bass, who impressed us with his nimble finger-work as he took the lead or soloed on many numbers over the course of the gig. Luke was ‘depping’ and this was his first performance with the quintet. An amazing talent! After two numbers where brushes were employed effectively by Matt Fishwick to set up a shuffling rhythm on the drums, he excels on the latin-tinged ‘Mamboing’ where he knocks out an urgent and vigorous rhythm to drive the pace forward. Nick explained how mambo became popular in the mid-1950s in New York, triggering a big dance craze. George then began incorporating Cuban music into his repertoire and was at the forefront of blending the new Mambo style with jazz – continuing on from Dizzy Gillespie’s experiments with Afro-Cuban music in the late 1940s.
No tribute to George Shearing would be complete without ‘Lullaby of Birdland’, George’s best-known tune which was written for Morris Levy, the owner of Birdland, as the theme music for a radio show broadcast from the club. Here it was taken at a brisk pace with piano, vibes and guitar delivering the head in unison before Nick takes a beautiful melodic solo, again switching to block chords in the bridge.
‘September Samba’ – a bossa nova in the style of George Shearing for a guitar-vibes-piano quintet – was an original composition by Nick Tomalin; an uptempo, vivacious tune with a warm feel that complemented the Shearing numbers admirably.
‘Love Is Just Around The Corner’ completed the first set, after Nick related how George and the quintet enjoyed indulging in wordplay, by replacing the word ‘love’ with ‘lunch’ in song titles. Try it for yourselves …. It was good to hear the band stretch out, with everyone contributing inspired extended solos. Nick’s backing riffs behind the solos and choruses build the excitement.
The second set opened with ‘Oh look at me now’, from the 1961 album, ‘The Swingin’s Mutual!’ where the George Shearing quintet was accompanied by the vocalist Nancy Wilson. The song is best known from its interpretation by Frank Sinatra.
The more demanding composition ‘Conception’, a 1950 jazz standard written by Shearing is widely regarded as one of the best original bebop tunes ever written. As Nick explained, it is one of the most challenging tunes to improvise on, both because of the speed of the harmonic rhythm and the tricky modulations but the band appeared to breeze through it, negotiating the corners with ease. There is a suggestion that ‘Conception’ was written by Bud Powell, but no-one really takes this seriously. Interestingly, the original score was adapted by Miles Davis in 1950, who created an arrangement that kept Shearing’s chord changes and main theme. He also rewrote it in 1950 to create an entirely new main theme for his Birth of the Cool project, giving the composition the title ‘Deception’. Oh, what a tangled web . . . deception indeed.
A mambo-ised version of George Gershwin’s ‘Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off’ was an interesting adaptation and despite Nick’s self-deprecating comments, the original was easily recognisable and their interpretation was quite charming. Equally welcome was the second Tomalin original of the evening, ‘Blues for George’. We were the first ever audience to hear this and it would be very nice to hear it again on a future recording.
As a prelude to the next number, Nick explained how he had met George Shearing in 1993 as a student at the Guildhall School of Music as part of a South Bank Show special about George’s life and work. Nick took part in a masterclass with George teaching some of the piano students. The students, including Nick, were asked to perform a piece in front of George and receive constructive feedback. Nick performed the ballad ‘I’ll Never Smile Again’ after which George told him that it was fine but too loud! No such concerns from the rendition that we got to hear.
We conclude (almost) with Charlie Shavers’ ‘Undecided’ as arranged by Shearing and originally featuring Toots Thielemans, the harmonica player, on guitar. But of course, this being Fleece Jazz we couldn’t go home without an encore and the band duly obliged with a George Shearing composition that he never recorded: ‘She’. Not to be confused with the Charles Aznavour ballad, this was Nick Tomalin’s imagined version of Shearing playing his own tune. Bud Powell recorded it and I would recommend that you give that a listen, if you can. Much of what we heard during last night’s gig combined a light, mellifluous melodicism with the harmonic complexity of Bud Powell and was a commendable tribute to George Shearing and his legacy.
We have a three-week break before our next gig on Wednesday 14th June, when we are excited to have the Etheridge–TravisQuartet, a veritable jazz super-group featuring electric guitar, saxophones, flute, organ and drums. John Etheridge and Theo Travis have been the frontline of the legendary band Soft Machine and are joined by a topflight rhythm section comprising one of the most go-to keyboard players in the British jazz and blues scene, Pete Whittaker and drummer Nic France.
People seem to be afraid of original music. All but two of the tunes we heard on this lovely gig were written by Philip Clouts, our leader on piano. Philip writes beautiful, varied and accessible music that any jazz lover would enjoy.
My favourite tune was Nyasa Lullaby. It was a beautiful slow lullaby based on a single tone row. The variations on the row seemed without end. I was sorry when the tune ended.
But Philip is a very talented composer. I don’t know whether he has ever visited Cannery Row (we had our honeymoon there and thereabout). That was 60 years ago, but I think he caught it as we saw it back then. So he took us all around Africa, South America and the U.S. west coast. It was a joyous ride.
The band is very happy with standards: both the Rogers and Hart and the Horace Silver were delightful.
I hope we have the band back. They deserve a much bigger audience. The comments afterwards were from very happy people. Steve Jordan’s setlist is below.
Next gig, 24 May, will celebrate the great British pianist and composer, George Shearing. Nick Tomalin’s quintet will do them honour.
Take care,
Dave
PHILIP CLOUTS QUARTET
SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 10/5/23
All compositions by Philip Clouts except (3) and (9)
Tilt – with influences from Latin America
On West Hill – inspired by John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row about a small seaside community in the U.S.A. West Hill is the area where Philip Clouts lives in Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast.
Have You Met Miss Jones? (Rodgers & Hart) featured two wonderful solos by Tim Fairhall on double bass
Umoya – titled from the Zulu word for life-force.
Nyasa Lullaby – inspired by musicians from Tanzania using notes from just one scale
Marula – named after the fruit-bearingl tree with a dome-shaped canopy indigenous to the savanna woodlands of East Africa and Madagascar.
