Top Ten Jan 8th Birthdays

What a famous day Jan 8th is!  The following people were all born on this day.
(also, this is another top ten list that I can put myself on!)

1. Stephen Hawking, English scientist (1942)
2. Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer (1937)
3. Elvis Presley, American singer (1935)
4. David Bowie, English singer (1947)
5. Paul Hester, drummer with Crowded House (1959)
6. Robby Krieger, guitarist with The Doors (1946)
7. Soupie Sales, Amercian Comedian (1926)
8. R Kelly, American singer (1967)
9. Anna Hughes, twin sister and co-leader of the Sarah Ellen Hughes big band (1983)
10. Sarah Ellen Hughes, British jazz singer and author of the blog you're reading (1983)

A Snowy Christmas.

I had a great Christmas day with my camera!  Available for parties and weddings...!

A fox dragging its toe nails?

Our snow wasn't good enough for a snowman so we had to make do with a snowface!

Big band Bonanza

In December the Sarah Ellen Hughes big band was born!  Our first gig was at Ruislip Manor.  It was so much fun, and hopefully we'll be back in May.

Here's the review.

The Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band (December 5th)

The Band: Sarah Ellen Hughes (vocals/flute, front right) and Anna Hughes (vocals/trumpet/flugel, front left) co-leading (from left) Rob Taggart (keyboard); Matt Ridley (bass); Paul Robinson (drums); Henry Armburg-Jennings, Richard Freeman, Gabriel Garrick, Mark Perry (trumpets); Chris Lowe, Martin Gladdish, Natalie Whitts (tenor trombones); Ollie King (bass trombone); saxophones: Brandon Allen (tenor), Jamie O'Donnell (alto), Phil Knights (alto), Tom Stone (tenor), Richard Shepherd (baritone).

The Music: Too Close For Comfort (v) (Jerry Bock/Lawrence Holofcener/George Weiss, arr. Patrick Williams) : Midnight Sun (v) (J Francis Burke/Johnny Mercer) : Wait And See (v) (Bill Ashton, arr. Paul Higgs) : Return Flight (Tom Stone) : All Of Me (Seymour Simmons, arr. Phil Knights) : A-Tisket, A-Tasket (v) (Van Alexander/Ella Fitzgerald) : You Go To My Head (v) (J Fred Coots/Haven Gillespie) : But Not For Me (George & Ira Gershwin) : That Old Black Magic (v) (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer, arr. Billy May) : Oh Lady Be Good (v) (George & Ira Gershwin) : When Sunny Gets Blue (v) (Marvin Fisher/Jack Segal) : Someone (v) (Bill Ashton, arr. Evan Jolly) : Big P (Jimmy Heath, arr. Henry Armburg-Jennings) : I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (v) (Irving Berlin) : Putney Vale (Tom Stone, arr. Callum Au) : Twos Hughes Blues (Sarah Ellen Hughes) : In The Bleak Mid-Winter (Gustav Holst/Christina Rosetti, arr. Sarah Ellen Hughes) : Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpont, arr. John Clayton jnr./Natalie Cole)

The Gig: Winter’s gloom lifted temporarily, both literally and metaphorically, for this eagerly-anticipated session, an unseasonably rare sunny Sunday enticing in from the cold a goodly crowd to witness and enjoy the launch of the Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band, live at The Manor…

From the very first number – Too Close For Comfort – a groovily swinging ensemble work-out, it was clear that this gig, and this band, was going to be something special – Sarah Ellen (left) demonstrating from the outset just why she’s deservedly been gathering plaudits for her vocal prowess.  A switch in pace saw that beautiful ballad, Midnight Sun, given a rarely heard vocal outing. Sarah Ellen initially pitched the verse and chorus over the sax section and a mass of muted trumpets, while her twin sister, Anna Hughes, provided the front mic flugelhorn intro and counterpoint – Anna then played a plangent double time flugel solo before the concluding vocal. Marvellous stuff!


When Sarah Ellen left NYJO almost three years ago Bill Ashton presented her with a number of his vocal charts that she particularly liked. One of these was Wait And See, a gentle bossa nova which started as a vocal/piano duet (Rob Taggart doing the honours on keyboard), then added a flavouring of flute (courtesy of Phil Knights) before the full band joined in – Jamie O’Donnell took the fine alto solo.

There were just two fully instrumental numbers in this set: the first, Return Flight, written by second tenor Tom Stone, also has NYJO connections – it had been performed here just two weeks before. After Rob’s piano intro, Mark Perry and Sarah Ellen (on flute) together stated the theme of this medium-paced, Latin-tinged number. Mark and Tom each took a solo and Paul Robinson (right) added some powerful percussive interludes towards the end.

The second, Phil’s Basie-esque arrangement of All Of Me, had an extended intro by the rhythm section, some rumbustious ensemble work and featured a lovely solo by Rob over the full band – absolutely cracking!

Returning to the vocal mic, Sarah Ellen dusted off the old Ella Fitzgerald number, ATisket, A-Tasket based, she said, on a 19th Century nursery rhyme – so maybe Van Alexander was only responsible for the band’s vocal interjections!  Whatever, it was great fun… By contrast, You Go To My Head was a gentle, Latin-flavoured quintet feature for Sarah Ellen, singing initially with the rhythm section and subsequently joined by Martin Gladdish, who also provided the trombone solo and an achingly beautiful descant line to the concluding vocal.

The penultimate number of the first set marked another change – Sarah Ellen had arranged But Not For Me as a sprightly vocal duet feature for herself and sister Anna, accompanied by members of the sax section.  After Paul’s spirited drum intro, the impressively matched voices of the talented twins swung into the verse and chorus before Phil, Jamie, Tom and Richard Shepherd each soloed in turn. Jon Hendricks’s alternate lyrics made an appearance in the middle section, Paul provided a drum break and then the girls alternated fours and duetted all the way to the drum-supported coda. Just wonderful!

Which only left That Old Black Magic to weave its spell and send everyone buzzing with delight at what they’d just heard and in anticipation of delights yet to come…

Set two bounded into action with a couple of quintet numbers: after an a capella vocal intro, Oh Lady Be Good saw Brandon Allen (right) joining Sarah Ellen and the rhythm section and providing a lovely tenor counterpoint to the second chorus. Brandon, Rob and Matt Ridley also contributed solos before Sarah Ellen (scatting), Paul and Brandon alternated fours into the coda. Slowing things down, Anna then joined her sister for a vocal duet on When Sunny Gets Blue which, after the piano intro, had a ‘twins and tenor’ interlude before Rob’s extended solo – more vocal duetting over Brandon’s tenor descant brought proceedings to a close.

The full band returned for Evan Jolly’s arrangement of Bill Ashton’s Someone, an archetypal big band swinger on which Anna took the lead vocal, being joined later by Sarah Ellen for some duetting – the sax section then had a soli before more vocal duetting over muted trumpets led to the big finish.

Jimmy Heath is a somewhat neglected jazz writer but Henry Armburg-Jennings’ (left) arrangement of Big P went some way to setting this to rights.  Matt’s bass intro over piano and drums gave way to the band before Henry’s extended solo – Richard and Rob each then had solos before the ensemble finish, complete with tremolo saxes…

I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm started with some Latin flavouring before Sarah Ellen’s vocal settled into a swing groove – Phil took the alto solo. Tom then generously offered his own ballad composition, Putney Vale, to Brandon, who grasped the chance of a tenor  feature with both hands – Gabriel Garrick and Rob also contributed solos.

Back to the duets, but this time with a difference – after Rob’s relaxed intro, Twos Hughes Blues featured the purely instrumental talents of Sarah Ellen and Anna on flute and muted trumpet respectively (right), kicking back on an original which did exactly what the title suggests.  Chris Lowe, Gabriel, Richard and Jamie all contributed solos, whilst Matt interjected some appropriate bass fills over the leads’ duet coda.

The inevitable Christmas offerings were left until the end, on the basis, Sarah Ellen said: “…that it’s much nearer to Christmas now than it was at 12.30”. In her arrangement of Gustav Holst’s setting of Christina Rosetti’s In The Bleak Mid-Winter, after a rubato chorale introduction the rhythm section settled into a slow rock groove before the sisters singly and then together (left) made the gloomy lyrics glow.  Jamie (soprano) and Mark took solos before Sarah Ellen’s scat vocal and another vocal duet chorus preceded the muted trumpet and soprano sax coda – seasonably smashing stuff!

Jingle Bells featured in a band’s programme for the second time in seven days – this version though was a sexily swinging arrangement, originally written by John Clayton Jnr for Natalie Cole, to which Sarah Ellen did full vocal justice. Richard Freeman contributed the obligatory ‘neighing’ trumpet interjections and Brandon added a tremendous tenor solo before Sarah Ellen's sleigh bells suitably rounded off the concert. 

For two week’s running there have been unanimous audience accolades for a band appearing at The Manor, and the music it played – the requests again this week were all along the lines of: “You must have this band back!”. With the proviso that we’re able to count on a viable level of audience support for all the bands we host here, we’ll be in a position to continue our promotions and accede to such requests. And if so, the Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band may well be returning in late spring…

Steve Harris / Ian Fielding 

Photos Bill Ashton/Steve Harris

Theo Jackson at the 606

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of spending the evening at the 606, writing for LondonJazz (www.londonjazz.blogspot.com).  The Theo Jackson Quintet was the entertainment.  Here's the review:

Vocalist Theo Jackson leads his band from the piano, with a confidence and assurance that comes from being a true musician, and the trust and knowledge that the other guys on the stand are too.  He is the first to applaud (well, his hands are occupied on the keys so by 'applaud' I mean 'acknowledge by exclaiming') altoist Nathaniel Facey's solo.  These guys gel together well.  It may be a young band - this is in fact Theo's 25th birthday, and the rest of the band range from 24-29 - but there is maturity in their grooves and in their respect and understanding of each other.

  

Unfortunately, Theo was clearly struggling with some of the high notes - perhaps the remnants of a winter cold playing havoc with his performance.  Nevertheless, where he's let down in power and range, he more than makes up for in tone and vocal dexterity.  He's got a beautiful voice.  It's well-controlled with a casual jazz vibrato, and a pop-y flexibility.  It's a satisfying sound. 

Theo is clearly a talented writer and instrumentalist, as well as musician and performer.  However, not one of the tunes is arranged to exploit the instruments at his disposal which I feel is a wasted opportunity.

The highlight of the first set for me was Charlie Parker's Confirmation.  Not necessarily for the vocal - a charming delivery but not accurate enough in diction or intonation to be convincing (although saved once again by that gorgeous tone shining through).  No, this is where the band went to town. 

Guitarist Jamie McCredie was a most thrilling soloist.  I wish he'd had a mic before him to capture what he was singing as it certainly looked like he was scatting along perfectly to his own solo.  Nathaniel Facey proved exactly why he was the worthy recipient of the Worshipful Company of Musicians Young Jazz Musician's prize a few months prior.  And let's not forget Theo Jackson at the piano.  He modestly tells me that he's not a pianist.  But his well-worked solos develop logically, being both thoughtfully-crafted and dexterously-impressive, and above all making sense, without resorting to flashy finger-wiggling.

During this tune they traded 8s between instruments which was great fun.  The only thing lacking was the tremendous applause for a stunning drum solo which Jason Reeve had worked hard for and would have deserved. 

I introduced myself to Theo during the interval and it was clear that he had actually lost his voice.  He didn't complain to the crowd about it  - the only reference while singing was during Devil May Care where a growling voice finished off this 1950s bop standard with all the gruffness of a 90s rocker.  "I'm quite enjoying this raspy thing," he said before singing the last 2 bars.  That’s a pro at work!

Drummer Jason Reeve really shone in this tune too, echoing licks and responding musically to the soloists as well as exploring the whole kit and a range of styles in his own too-short solo.

Other memorable moments were You Saved Me, a lilting 5/4 giving bassist Philipp Moll a chance to weave a lyrical solo.  He's been impressive throughout.  Tired drew its inspiration from a hopeless teenage crush on a music teacher and Pat Metheny's Minuano allowed this band to exploit the groove that is clearly their forte.  A brave encore finished the night off well.

I can't wait for the full-throated show, to see what Theo Jackson is really capable of.  

Top Ten Christmas Songs

1. All I want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey.

2. Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day (including the best lip-syncing ever videod!)

3. Let It Snow - Frank Sinatra

4. Rockin Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

5. Wham! - Last Christmas (the acting in this video is superb..!)

6. Cliff Richard - Saviours Day

7. Baby It's Cold Outside - sung by the incredible Dionne Warwick and Ray Charles (not Cerys Matthews who sings the words wrong in the studio and says "oops!")

8. Santa Claus is Coming To Town - Jackson 5

9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - James Taylor

10. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole

A Belfast Treat

On 6th/7th November I had the pleasure of spending a weekend in Northern Ireland for a couple of gigs.  A friend who I used to play jazz with when we both lived in the North West of England - Dan Forshaw - moved to Belfast a couple of years ago and has been busy establishing some decent, regular jazz nights.

So the Saturday night was a jazz gig in Bert's Jazz Bar, at the Merchant Hotel.  Bert's does live jazz every night, and it's even got a veranda outside to which music is pumped, day and night.  Here I am the morning after, listening to some very sultry Sarah Vaughn.  (Unfortunately the camera couldn't cope here with the bright sunlight... apparently we had experienced one of the only Autumn weekends with sunshine since Dan had moved there!)

We were lucky enough to be put up in this (very 5*) hotel.  I'd never been in such a place.  Our small bags were carried without question by the charming William - who then proceeded to give us a guided tour of our room.  We couldn't have been looked after better.

The gig was enjoyable - great to play with new musicians - although in a hotel bar, it's unlikely that you'll get much of a listening audience.  However, we had a few requests and a few appreciative comments amongst the irregular applause.  I have to say, it was wonderful to do a gig and then crawl into bed less than 5 minutes later, in a room that is one of the most elegant I have ever been in!

Me and Dan

Sunday started with a 'full Irish' - deliiicious!  The dining room had high ceilings, columns, cherubs adorning the walls and everything else you could imagine of such a place.  We followed breakfast by a trip to the next gig - at SD Bell, a lovely little tea and coffee house in the Knock area of Belfast.  Each Sunday top-quality jazz and atmosphere is served, for no entry fee.

Overall a very enjoyable weekend, and hopefully at some point I'll be back.

Top Ten London Jazz Festival gigs

Each November, London hosts one of the major International jazz festivals.  It started off life in the 1970s as ‘Camden Jazz Week’ as part of the Camden Festival.  After about 20 years the Camden Festival disappeared, but the popular jazz week moved south of the river and grew into the thriving festival we know today.  Given that the festival runs for 10 days, I have picked one gig from each day to be included in this month’s Top Ten.

Top Ten London Jazz Festival gigs (in order of performance schedule)

1. Emma Smith | Friday 12^th November | Barbican Freestage | 6pm

I first met Emma about 4 years ago when she came to NYJO as an aspiring singer.  At that time I had the principal vocalist/vocal coach spot with the band.  In NYJO you are considered ‘youth’ until you are 25 and, although I wasn’t planning on leaving just yet, I knew my days were numbered.  Therefore I was always on the lookout for a replacement singer, and I was thrilled when Emma came along because I knew, even at 16, she would do the job brilliantly.

Emma is performing with her own quartet on the Barbican Freestage.  She’s one of the best singers I’ve ever heard, despite being only in her second year at college!

2. Gareth Lockrane | Saturday 13^th November | The Forge | 9pm

I first heard Gareth playing flute with NYJO (most of the musicians I know in this city have had some experience or other in NYJO) when I was about 17.  I was a flautist myself, but I heard notes from Gareth’s flute that I didn’t even realise were possible on the instrument!  Gareth now plays with a variety of different instruments – piccolo, alto and bass flutes – which bring a delicious flavour to his performances.

3. Gretchen Parlato | Sunday 14^th November | Ronnie Scott’s | 8pm

I have previewed Gretchen’s gig at Ronnie Scott’s for the LondonJazz website – click here to read it.

4. Shez Raja (+ Peter Sarik + Emma Louise) | Monday 15^th November | The Pheasantry | 8pm

Shez Raja is a fantastic bass player and an all round nice guy!  His music is a mixture of funk and jazz, and his latest album – Mystic Radical – has a flavour of experimental jazz too.  The collective is joined by trumpeter Abram Wilson on this occasion.  “Expect exciting music that evokes all of the emotions - a mix of euphoric jazz, thundering funk, lyrical ballads and intoxicating grooves.”

5. Empirical | Tuesday 16^th November | Peter Parker’s Club | 8:30pm

Empirical were recently awarded the MOBO for jazz, beating off competition from Robert Glasper, Brad Mehldau, Phronesis and John McLaughlin.  They are the choice band for Hot Dog Jazz which runs monthly at Peter Parker’s Club.  After the first set, the stage is opened and Empirical will host a jam session.

6. Vocal Summit | Wednesday 17^th November | Spice of Life | 7:30pm

I’ve made in onto my own list again!!  I’m thrilled to have been invited to take part in this year’s vocal summit alongside distinguished vocalists Emilia Martensson and Fini Bearman.  I’ve previewed the gig for LondonJazz – click here to read it.

7. Jon Hendricks | Thursday 18^th November | Ronnie Scott’s | 7pm

I first saw Jon Hendricks perform at the Ronnie Scott’s 50^th birthday party about this time last year.  His voice was just as dextrous as ever and he performed some amazing scat.  This is the first of 3 nights he’s on at Ronnie’s.

8. Peter King and Henry Armburg-Jennings | Friday 19^th November | The Green Man | 7:45pm

The Green Man has opened its downstairs bar to a weekly jazz night, hosted by a collaboration between the Worshipful Company of Musicians and a group of Royal Academy of Music graduates.  Jazz legend King is joined by young trumpet star Armburg-Jennings for the final night of a 4-night performance run at The Green Man.  The other nights are Jim Mullen (Tues), Ronnie Scott remembered (Weds) and Bobby Wellins (Thurs).

9. Tina May | Saturday 20^th November | The Pheasantry | 8:30pm

Tina will be performing tonight with the Frank Harrison trio, to launch a new DVD.  Tina is a wonderful performer as well as singer, and always entertains with tales of jazz and song stories.  She has had a fascinating career thus far from musicals to touring, from French to festivals.  Read about her here: www.tinamay.com/biog

10. Ian Shaw and Lianne Carroll | Sunday 21^st November | The Hideaway  8pm

The Hideaway in Streatham is a great venue, having been running for a little over a year.  As you may guess, it’s hidden away, around the back of some shops off Streatham High Road, but once inside you’ll find it’s one of the best equipped jazz clubs in London – great atmosphere, good bar and food, excellent sound.

Ian and Lianne – both being singer pianists, and both extremely funny people not to mention phenomenal singers – have the ability to take you to musical heaven while making you feel like you’re their best friend.  This should be an amazing end to the London Jazz Festival.