Dave's Jazz Notes for April 2024

Hello Everyone

I’ve waited till afternoon to write these as it’s April 1st!

First the March review – Graham Smith’s Jazz All sorts.

Another splendid band - Tony Pipkin (trumpet) and Zoltan Sagi (reeds) are old – sorry – “long term” friends and were on fine form. Zoltan’s feature on East of the Sun was a delight and Tony produced some knocked out vocals in the second half. Of the “newer” folk, Dave Deakin on trombone was very impressive, we have also heard him on sousaphone and bass in different bands and he is always creative and interesting to listen to. Simon Smith is a very dependable player with a nice fat sound which shone through on his numerous solos.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Richard Hughes on piano. He has been to ZJR before but somehow not impinged on our collective consciousness. He certainly put that right with some sparkling and inventive playing which we all enjoyed greatly. There remains the boss, another of those rare drummers with a light touch & fine technique who always swings like mad. Which all added up to a great session, enjoyed by a goodly turnout for which we thank you all. Lighter evenings should help still further!

Next month (April 18th) we shall welcome the John Maddocks Jazzmen which will be another treat. John himself is such a versatile clarinettist – he often shows up helping out in other bands – and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the music we all love. The Jazzmen will include Tom Connor (trumpet) and Chris Gower (trombone) and the rhythm section Keith Durston, Andy Dickens, Jim Swinnerton and Jon Hall (piano, guitar, bass & drums) Not to be missed!

Jazz at the Lamb in March featured Peter Rudeforth on trumpet. He is such an excellent trumpeter and all round musician, it encourages the Rascals to be even more daring in their repertoire than usual so we (the band) had a lovely evening playing early Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Bix numbers. We suspect (hope!) that you, our audience, enjoy our enjoyment as much as the music we play!

Next month (April 24) we will be joined by a wonderful reedman, Olly Wilby who we haven’t seen since September 2021 so expect some fireworks on that night too. The Rascals will be the usual suspects including Andrew Clancy on piano. At this point I should say how lucky I am to have such a terrific group of musicians to work with. It still always gives me a huge kick each time we tear into our first tune of the evening. Our audience numbers are holding up pretty well too so we (and the Lamb) must thank you all for turning out so regularly. Well “That’s yer lot” for now. See you all in April, Take care.

Dave & Zelda