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Birmingham Jazz Alive & Well

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Good to see some new faces last night at Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club's Wednesday night gig at Walmley Social Club. There was almost a hundred of us present to give local teenager Kiera (pictured above) a warm reception on her second visit as she takes the early steps towards what she hopes will be a professional singing career.
She was guesting for Apex Jazz and Swing Band, not the typical New Orleans, Dixieland, trad specialists who normally grace the SCTJC programme, more a swingy 'small big band' outfit with tributes to such as Duke Ellington and even the orginal Nat King Cole trio (Hit the Road Jack) rather than the likes of King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory.
Kiera, whose long-term dream is to sing in Ella Fitzgerald style, contributed half-a-dozen standards including Misty, Girl from Ipanema and Pennies from Heaven. Her classically-trained voice is strong yet sweet, her diction word-for-word clear and her manner confident but not extrovert. In due course, inevitably she will engender a jazz singing 'attitude' but that takes time and experience. She is no sixties rock chick or modern-day screamer and shouter... and remember, this admirable young lady is still at school, and in the thick of exams, I imagine.She was given a warm and rousing response from the audience of her local jazz club. We would all, I'm sure, like to keep track of how her fledgling career develops with, perhaps, a third visit some time.
Apex leader Robin Mason's love of all-things Ellington came across with his rendition of several pieces including Jeep's Blues (composed by the Duke for Johnny Hodges on alto sax), Take the A Train and a request for the enchanting Creole Love Call. It was music to keep the dance floor well populated for much of the evening and if the 'trad' enthusiasts felt a little short-changed on this occasion well there is a positive feast ahead in the first three weeks of June, namely, The Pedigree Jazz Band with a tribute to trad, followed by the exciting and entertaining Rich Bennett Band and on to Baby Jools' Jazzaholics.A wonderfully jazzy welcome to summer.
 
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Shawcross,

Thanks for another admirable review and good to hear another lady musician is taking shape. There are so many lady sax players about now when in my younger day Kathy Stobart was almost alone. Then came the more modernist Barbara Thompson, and now they are approaching the number of male players available. Lady bass players are also starting to fill out the scene, and despite that monster of an instrument, they are producing some great sounds. Long may it continue and I wish Kiera well in her progress through the music business.

Maurice
 
Jeff Barnhart.jpgJeff Barnhart...'American-of-many-parts'

A rather different slant on jazz at Coventry's Jazz-a-matazz yesterday, but none the less enjoyable for that. Two reeds players, keyboards and drums with no trumpet, trombone, bass or banjo is not a line-up to impress the trad purists..but that instant misjudgement reckons without the quality of the musicians.
When the American-of-many-parts Jeff Barnhart, a regular visitor to the UK, is on stage, entertainment for all but those with a closed mind is guaranteed. Jeff - as you already knew, of course - is a Fats Waller style pianist, raconteur with an infectious enthusiasm for what he does and an impish line of repartee with his band mates.
An quick taste of that comes with an early title announced 'like a Bronx cab driver' as 'Exactly Like Youse...'. Later we got 'If I Had Youse'. Completing the very pleasing Sunday lunchtime quartet was excellent drummer Nick Ward, the ever-green George Huxley and local stalwart Matt Palmer, the driving force behind the continuance of the venue. This pair of maestros came up with a reeds combinations that embraced two clarinets, two soprano saxes, two two tenors, two altos and two vocals.
It came as a nice surprise to hear George sing 'Dinah' with a most pleasing tone, one which he assured us had (in the past, of course) prompted ladies to throw their underwear on stage...As for Matt he has a fund of knowledge about his specialist subject and rattled off a number of famous reeds duets before launching with Huxley into the Jimmy Noone favourite Apex Blues.
My personal favourite came in the strains of 'Black and Blue', an anti-racist protest song part written by Fats Waller and sung here by Barnhart, though it's never quite the same for me performed by anyone but Louis Armstrong, with the unrivalled power both of his jazz voice, feel for the lyrics and trumpet solo extraordinary. Not complaining, though. Their version helped my jar of real ale down very nicely.
As if we needed any more treats, Jeff's wife Anne stepped on stage for a couple of vocals and a flute solo with 'Lady Be Good'. She was, too.
 
Shawcross,

That is another excellent writeup and sounds as if the same can be said about the performances too. "Lady Be Good" is a song that can be done in almost any style and it will come out well, so Anne made a good choice with that one. According to his website, Jeff spends an average of 40 weeks on the road - that is some tough schedule for any musician.

Maurice
 
Shawcross:

Another superb review of the local jazz music scene. I can almost feel the music rising from the page. Nostalgia at its very best.

Delighted to read that the saxophone family are still very much part of the jazz scene. These days it is a joy to hear one soprano sax, at a jazz club. TWO must be a rarity. It is the most difficult of the saxophone family to play in tune. B flat, I believe, but Maurice can no doubt confirm.

Whatever happened to the C melody saxophone? I always loved the bass saxophone, played, and made popular, by Adrian Rollini. Great old jazz recordings with Bix Beiderbecke, Bobby Hackett, Bunny Berigan, Frankie Trumbauer & Red Nichols.

Harry Gold, he of the Pieces of Eight fame, played bass saxophone, and confessed that he was very much influenced by Adrian Rollini.

I saw the band a couple of times at either the Dudley Hippodrome or the Warley Odeon, and Harry's 'party piece' was a bass saxophone solo, during which a balloon would start to emerge from the side of the saxophone, and as the solo progressed, the balloon would inflate.

How did he do that?

Keep the reviews coming, shawcross. They are just as excellent as the music that you so warmly write about.

Eddie
 
Eddie / Shawcross,

I can confirm as Eddie says that the soprano sax is a Bb instrument and, of course, very popular in modern jazz, and it does take an excellent player to make it sound good. Two of the best amongst the modernists on this instrument are the Norwegian, Jan Garbarek, and our own Barbara Thompson, wife of drummer Jon Hiseman. Listen to her playing soprano on the title music to "A Touch of Frost". Sadly she doesn't play much these days as she suffers from Parkinson's Disease.

Maurice
 
Kathy Stobart 001.jpg With Jon Hiseman 001.jpg

My only photo of Kathy Stobert, with soprano sax. According to my records, Kathy would have been 90 years old last April, but I think, she has recently passed on. Again, Maurice is the one with the statistics!

Also, a not very good photo of Jon Hiseman, with self, taken at a music show. Jon is 71 years old. No photo of Barbara Thompson, his wife.

Eddie.
 
I'm most impressed my the knowledge and memories of you 'real' musical people: I'm afraid I don't know or recall most of the names you guys mention but I am very pleased ( and slightly surprised!) to have my comments receive the seal of approval from professionals. It keeps me writing the reviews to be honest.

Re-soprano sax. I wouldn't know about the technical details of any of it. At school I didn't get past the doe-ray-me-fah stage...I'm simply filled with admiration for anyone who can play any instrument. The soprano sax solos that we get at jazz clubs tend to relate to Bechet...last Sunday a requested solo by George Huxley was Indian Summer. And very pleasant, too.....Dennis
 
Sadly, Kathy died in July last year. You may also remember her late hubby, trumpeter Bert Courtley, Eddie. I think I last played with Kathy in 1976 or 77. She was a regular visitor to the Parkstone Jazz Club in Poole, when I was member of the house band. She was easy to work with, very relaxed and nothing too challenging, unlike Alan Skidmore, who would go out on an avant garde limb and you really had to work hard to work out where he was heading next! I was never a great fan of modal jazz, where the improvisation in based on one of the modal scales rather than a conventional chord sequence.

Perhaps it will put everyone a bit more into the picture if I try to explain the meaning of Bb and Eb instruments. Musicians (and ex-musicians!) tend to go into technicalities and lose the intended audience! Let's start by playing a major scale in the key of C on a piano or an organ. This involves starting on any note of C and playing that followed by the next consecutive 7 white notes and none of the black notes. Written down it will look like this:-

Scales_1 - Copy.jpg Note, there are no sharps or flats.

Most brass instruments, clarinets, soprano and tenor saxes would need this scale to be written in the key of Bb major to sound the same as the piano, organ or stringed instruments and that would look like this:-

Scale_2.jpg Note the two flats in the key signature.

and alto and most baritone saxes (known as Eb instruments) would need the same scale to be written in the key of E flat major to sound the same, and that would look like this:-

Scale_3.jpg Note the three flats in the key signature.

Generally speaking, the more flats (or sharps) involved make for more difficult playing. So when the C instruments are playing in the key of A major (3 sharps), this is really difficult for the alto and baritone players as they have to read & play the same piece of music in the key of F sharp major (6 sharps). Alto players really love this key - NOT!!!

I appreciate that I have tried to explain this concept in 10 seconds, whereas it is really quite a complex subject and you really need to know about tones and semitones to really understand what it is all about. For that reason, I won't bother to try and explain in a nutshell what modal scales are all about!

On a piano by the way, B flat means that instead of playing the white note B, you have to play the black note immediately to the left of it. Similarly with E flat. To play F sharp, you play the black note immediately to the right of the white note designated F. And that's where I am going to call a halt to this!

Maurice
 
...Thanks for the tutorial Maurice but you lost me in the first paragraph...translating signs on paper into musical sounds is a mystery to me...
 
That's the problem, Shawcross, it's like coming in midway without knowing any of the basics! Glad I didn't attempt to explain modal scales then. It would probably have helped had I included some sounds files too, but this is a forum about Birmingham history and I don't want to push my luck with the moderators!

Maurice
 
With my recently acquired song books/sheet music of music popular in the 50's written for various organs they still have the guitar chords. With my limited ability I am struggling as lot of the songs are written in Bb and Eb. My teacher has explained that a lot of songs for bands with brass sections play in those keys with artists such as Nat King Cole but the melodies are beautiful. I will have to invest in a capo. I also found the introductions interesting as I had not heard them before so I am hoping I am getting those right, such as in Mona Lisa and For All We Know. Because I am technically amateurish I am finding with these that less is more.
 
Nice. This is a jazz music thread, and I wish to keep it as that. However, I have often been asked how do jazz musicians know how to play together? They follow set keys for pitching, chords, varying notation, and bars of music.

Jazz music, indeed all music, consists of single notes based on chords, and musicians follow a pre-set chord sequence that holds the tune/song they are playing, together.

I am sure that the moderators will allow me to illustrates the notations, as shown by Maurice, a little further. This may also prove to be useful information to other readers of this thread, who are interested in music. I stress that this is very basic knowledge, but a great start.

The NOTES , in the treble clef shown, are as follows: ON THE LINES, starting from the bottom: E; G; B; D; F; Just remember the following suggested saying; Every Good Boy Deserves Fun.

The NOTES between the lines (in the spaces are: F; A; C; E; or FACE.

End of lesson, now back to the music, and Birmingham jazz!!

Eddie
 
As your post mentions Coventry Jazz Club there is good jazz I am told performed possibly on an open mike at The Nursery Tavern, Spon End/Chapelfields, Coventry.
 
Nico said:
As your post mentions Coventry Jazz Club there is good jazz I am told performed possibly on an open mike at The Nursery Tavern, Spon End/Chapelfields, Coventry.
Click to expand...

Thank you again you musicians. I'm well pleased to see the Thread being used in such a practical way. With the Birmingham Jazz Festival coming up fast I would like to attract a wider audience, some of them telling us about the gigs they've attended, those they enjoyed most and why...whatever, really. My wife and I, avid attenders of the Festival in years gone by, are hoping to make a visit or two but it will depend on assured nearby parking and easy accessibillity. Our Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club will be involved on Wdnesdays, of course but we'll spread our net a little wider if we can.
Before that we're going to a long week-end Jazz Party at Hayling Island (june 19-22).
No doubt, at some point, I'll be pontificating here about it. You have been warned....
 
Pedigree-JazzBand-2015-1.jpgIMG_3764.JPGThe Pedigree Jazz Band playing their 'Tribute to Trad' programme for SCTJC's Wednesday night gig at Walmley Social Club was true to its word in providing a tuneful trawl through the early post-war years of Kenny Ball, Chris Barber, Acker Bilk and their brethren.
Sponsored by Marstons Brewery ( as real ale enthusiasts will have gathered ) they are a smartly-dressed, organised and disciplined sextet of musicians who were assembled and launched for the very purpose of keeping trad jazz alive and well. They're not alone in that aim, of course, but they do it very well.
You expect to get the likes of Green Leaves of Summer, Sukiyaki, Livery Stable Blues and Somerset etcetera, and so you do, but somewhat unseasonally and unexpectedly, also, we got Easter Parade and White Christmas. Looking back it is difficult to pinpoint highlights...no doubt because for trad fans, they were all highlights.
I guess, as a lover of muted, growling brass, my favourites were Graham Trevarton's trumpet/cornet solos in Chimes Blues, Tishomingo Blues and Martinique.(pictured)
Graham is a Cornishman with just a hint of an attractive West Country drawl and a sightly naughty sense of humour.
This he illustrated with his version of Last Night on the Back Porch which began with the authentic opening verse but continued with several verses of his own and judging by the audience response, proving that we all have a 'naughty' sense of humour to match his own.
In Graham's portrayal not only did he prove his love on the back porch, he also did so in several makes of motor car, various rooms of the house, and on the fairways and greens of the golf course. I don't remember THAT from the 1950s...good fun though.
 
Another excellent review, Shawcross, and I am glad to see that breweries are sponsoring jazz, even if I am not a big drinker myself. Money is a thing to drive the revival forward and with that comes lots more fans. Great news to hear.

Maurice
 
I see that one of the great modernist sax players, Ornette Coleman, has died at the age of 85 as the result of a cardiac arrest. Not one of my favourite players, and certainly won't be one of Shawcross', he was nevertheless a very influential player.

That makes three entertainment deaths today with Sir Christopher Lee (Dracula) and Ron Moody (Fagin). I backed Ron on a couple of occasions in the 1960s in Bournemouth when he started doing cabaret. A lovely guy to work with and always very popular.

Maurice
 
2015_Bennett.jpgRuss Bennett 2 (2).jpgBennett band (2).jpg
Any ill-informed modernist who regards 'trad' or 'Dixieland' jazz as a dull reminder of a
stereotyped yesteryear for tired old has-beens, would have changed their views had
they been fortunate enough be at Walmley Social club for the Sutton Coldfield's latest Wednesday
night blast from the past.
A blast it was, too, with superb exponents of their genre hitting the high peak of their powers and
prowess to re-produce the sounds and rhythms of America's deep south, where they were
spawned up to a century and more ago. Maybe a hint of Chicago and New York, too. Just as classical music or vintage wine never gets out of date, neither does quality jazz.
On stage was the RICH BENNETT BAND (above, right), one of the younger acts on the UK scene. Richard, on
trumpet, and his younger brother, Russell (pictures, centre), trombone, are the sons of a jazz musician father, Martin,
and the fact that they were weaned on his own musical taste is evident from the moment they
literally burst into action with their opening notes.
Usually there is a glass of amber fluid at their feet to lubricate their tonsils and illustrate that they
intend to enjoy the evening as much, of more than, their audience. There cannot be many better
trumpet soloists around than Rich, who also has a singing style all of his own and one that fits the
flippancy of some of the lyrics to perfection.
Russ is...well...Russ. With his west country Jack-the-lad personna, deliberately inane but amusing
chat and maverick, rough-edged, staccato trombone rasping away around the central theme, he's a
bit of an act all on his own. Like his brother, Russ can sing a romantic, rather mournful oldie, such as Baby Won't You Please Come Home or Tie Me to your Apron Strings Again.
They somehow manage to make well-worn standards such as Panama Rag, Sunny Side of the Street and Caledonia seem just a shade more jazzy then usual, probably because of the sheer sense of enthusiasm they inject into all they do.
It would be impossible to choose a 'favourite' from a couple of hours of goodies but I do like Rich's version of Secret Love with the feeling of reality that he injects into both his words and his trumpet phrasing. OK, not Louis Armstrong but pretty good in his own way. Talking of Satchmo, I also liked Rich's version of another tune that the great man sang, a trumpet solo and accompanying vocal of Keeping out of Mischief Now. And all for a fiver! Looking back to the evening's entertainment it brings back thoughts of another standard sung by many of the greats including Louis and Ella Fitzgerald: "I'm just a lucky so and so..."
 
Shawcross: Its simply great reading your jazz reviews, and so nice to read that there are many excellent, young jazz musicians still 'keeping the faith', and preaching to the converted.

Of course, no New Orleans, or Chicago type jazz, indeed, any good jazz, would ever be complete, and authentic, without the musicians partaking of the 'Amber Nectar'

Eddie.
 
View attachment 98654View attachment 98655View attachment 98656Going through the loft, old docs, photos, came across this magazine ( I have many of them), Music Mirror, dated March 1956. Price 1/-.

What is interesting is that there is a column called MIDLAND MIXTURE within the magazine, which was written by Dennis Detheridge. I was making enquires about Dennis, on this website, a few weeks ago, but no one seemed to recall him. Dennis worked for the old Evening Despatch & Birmingham Mail, as a music critic/review journalist. He was well known around the Birmingham music scene, and I often spoke to him.

I am also showing the front cover, featuring Stan Kenton, and a page showing well known jazz bands touring at that time. A little different in 1956!!

Eddie
 
Dennis ran the Swing Shift jazz club and gave me my fist break there as a modern jazz trumpeter. I met many good musicans there and got some paying commercial gigs. I kept in touch with Dennis and when I opened my first jazz club - the Central Jazz club he gave us free publicity with write ups in papers and mags as also did Fred Norris.
 
After failing to get into the Vaults at the old Municipal Bank on Saturday, I went across the road to the ICC. There I discovered that they had a band in the bar playing a 2 hour set. Apparently they've got this as a regular gig one Saturday in the month (or at least they're back next month on the 18th from 1:30). The band is called the Notebenders and they do have a website somewhere. That said, although this was a free show, they weren't that good. one instrument was too far down on the amp to register, others were dissonant at times, a vocalist would sing the intro to one song and then shift into something different for the rest of the number. The crowd didn't seem to care. They would applaud even a half-minute solo.
 
Don't quite know how to assess that Wam...except that if people attended and they enjoyed it, keep bending the notes, Notebenders I say. If I tried a vocal I would empty the place in seconds...
 
Just received a call from Pete York. A wonderful drummer that was originally with the Spencer Davis Group (Keep On Runnin'; Gimme Some Lovin' etcetera) Remember them? A great band.

These days Pete lives in Germany, but still gets over to the UK regularly. He loves his jazz, indeed he played with the Chris Barber Band for a while.

Pete is appearing at this years BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, along with other well known jazz musicians. Pete said he is really looking forward to it, playing some good music, meeting other fellow musicians, and the Birmingham public. While he is there, Pete will be taking a couple of MASTER CLASS tuition lectures. I believe the Festival is continuous fro July 5th - 15th. There is a Birmingham International Jazz Festival web site.

My message is to all Birmingham people, jazz fans, of whatever tastes in jazz, and whatever creed or colour, and all other music fans, to get along to the Festival, ENJOY IT, and help Birmingham live up to its name as the Second City.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL JAZZ

Eddie
 
norfolk brummie said:
View attachment 98654View attachment 98655View attachment 98656Going through the loft, old docs, photos, came across this magazine ( I have many of them), Music Mirror, dated March 1956. Price 1/-.

What is interesting is that there is a column called MIDLAND MIXTURE within the magazine, which was written by Dennis Detheridge. I was making enquires about Dennis, on this website, a few weeks ago, but no one seemed to recall him. Dennis worked for the old Evening Despatch & Birmingham Mail, as a music critic/review journalist. He was well known around the Birmingham music scene, and I often spoke to him.

I am also showing the front cover, featuring Stan Kenton, and a page showing well known jazz bands touring at that time. A little different in 1956!!

Eddie
Click to expand...


I remember the name Dennis Detheridge, he used to write for the 60's paper Midland Beat (not to be confused with Brum Beat which was produced at a later time)
 
Musical Memories of an End-of-the-war Street Party

065.jpg057.jpg073.jpg

Three soldiers were there, one from the Hun, with a sinister storm trooper tin helmet and two from
the Allies. A guy did a twirl wearing a gas mask. A spiv was among us,too, just like that chancer
in Dad's Army.
One lady looked like my wartime mum, with her ever-present turban in those turbulent days of the
Birmingham blitz. Other ladies, looking gorgeous, of course, had matched the fashion trends of the
era, one of them, bewigged, right down to the now-indescribable, almost unbelievable, hairstyle of
the day.
This was the scene at Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club's 40s night at Walmley Social Club.
Less a jazz night this, more a swing session, as Kevin Grenfell's Jazz Giants re-created the mood
of those years described by Winston Churchill as 'our darkest hour'. We had Glen Miller's In the
Mood, Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again. There was a Blue Moon, a Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square and
Some Day You'll be Sorry. A Brolly Parade featured suitably dressed ladies twirling their parasols
to the music.
The occasion sort of DID remind us that it is 70 years since the end of a Second World War that, in
many ways, was even more violent,sickening and destructive than the first one. And an amazing
aspect of that, looking back,is that we must be be the only nation in the world who partly remembers its 'modern' wars by the music they spawned.
Well, OK, I'm a silly sentimental old geezer...but I waved my Union Jack last night with the rest.
And, metaphorically-speaking I'm doing the same this morning. We enjoyed seeing some more new faces
last night. We do hope they enjoyed it, and that they will return.
Picture below shows Ansell Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham end-of-war street party. I'm concealed by the flowers on the table but that's my mum, seated on the kerb with a tray of sandwiches.

1.Street Party.jpg
 
Dennis, I bet I knew some of those lads at Golden Hillock Road School. Of course, years too late.

Delighted to read that you all had a good old WW2 knees up, at the Sutton Coldfield Jazz Club. Some great songs came out during WW2, and are still going strong today. You are correct to say that this Nation did seem to find some wonderful home grown songs to keep us going, and remembering those far away. The worst can bring out the best, and music is no exception.

Eddie
 
Shawcross said:
Don't quite know how to assess that Wam...except that if people attended and they enjoyed it, keep bending the notes, Notebenders I say. If I tried a vocal I would empty the place in seconds...
Click to expand...
The idea was to tell people it was there and that they could find out for themselves. I know my tastes aren't everyone's so I mention it anyway.

Surprised this thread hasn't mentioned the Jazz Festival yet. https://www.bigbearmusic.com/festival-2015/ It starts on Friday. Oddly they don't seem to have a downloadable programme or a map of the events. From what I've seen, you'd have to decide what you want to see and figure out where it is. A lot of the performances are in pubs but no addresses are given.
 
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