Purity not Parody - Nick Mills' Blue Note Project

Nick Mills - Trombone

The fur-cheeked trombonist Nick Mills brought his Blue Note Project to Twickenham Jazz Club earlier this month (10/04/2014) in a display of love and devotion to the long established record label. This was not a history lesson but a celebration of classic compositions by six intelligent performers.



Brandon Allen -
Tenor Saxophone

First impressions do not suggest that Nick Mills is a paid up member of the Jazz intelligentsia but as you hear him speak about his chosen subject you realise that still waters run deep. With his round face, furry chops and a face that turns a subtle shade of puce when in the groove I always imagine he sprung from the Jackanory episode when the BFG meets The lion who came to tea.

Jeremy Brown - Bass

Early exchanges were in honour of Wayne Shorter whose "Hammer head" and "Children of the night" could have been dedicated to saxophonist Brandon Allen who has recently became a father of an infant young enough to disrupt a few nights sleep. There is always a little knee bend in his expressive playing and his solo during the latter tune included a series of rhythmic small steps as though he were a toddler having a tantrum. This was grown-up performance though by Allen and he excelled on the subsequent Lee Morgan tune "Calling Miss Khadija".



Leon Greening -
Piano

Behind band leader Mills I caught brief glimpses of bassist Jeremy Brown who looked every inch the corduroyed  professor complete with spectacles and wild hair. Leon Greening also lurked in the shadows, and visually he was even more incognito under his 'Cousin Itt' bouffant. Not for long, the Twickenham Jazz Club crowd were not going to let him lurk at the back of the stage and he received the strongest response from these wise men and women. In fact Greening was central to the overall performance, his musical motifs during another Shorter tune "Ping Pong" was as light and esssential as the air in a table tennis ball.

A murmuration from the audience greeted Henry Armburg-Jennings on "Skylark" but it was the lines of attack opened up by drummer Matt Home that continued to impress especially on Curtis Fuller "Buhaina's delight" where his direct playing rolled down from dexterous clenched paws to a driving twisting left leg. I raise this Low's hat to his high-hat in admiration.


Henry Armburg-Jennings
Flugel and trumpet

Matt Home wasn't the only player with attack and drive on the Fuller tune. Nick Mills was territorial on his fellow trombonist's composition and roamed the stage with lager in hand like a man eager to once again engage in combat.



Matt Home - Drums

The familiarity of "Caravan" as their final tune could have signalled this as a pastiche of past glories, but in the hands of the Nick Mill's Blue Note Project  it had a sinister and discordant edge that made one feel alive like a kick in the vein. It was frantic and leftfield. It reflected a time when drug addiction was synonymous with moments of creation and originality but in this case it proved that this was not a night for parody but for purity.

AL.

Georgia Mancio - Jazz's popular vote

Georgia Mancio

The public voted with their feet last Thursday (25/04/2013) at Twickenham Jazz Club by standing on them and applauding without constraint. In my short time as TJC's in-house artist this was the most positive response I have seen for any group. Sometimes you keep it simple, a trio, purity of voice, skill and intensity, the stars collide and BANG!

The performance had started much earlier in the day with a hot topic on the online agenda. Just that morning Big Bear Music had announced the nominations for their annual 'mainstream' British Jazz Awards (including TJC's Henry Armburg Jennings, and the imminent Julian Stringle). Despite not being nominated, tonight's guitarist Nigel Price had urged his friends to vote, citing it as a popular poll where the public had a chance to show their appreciation for once. He wrote,
 "The less we vote the more likely it is for the whole "jobs for the boys" mentality or cronyism to creep in."

He was challenged on this point by Jazz royalty's free spirit Gabriel Garrick
"Don't believe the hype!!
Awards only serve to further any existing exclusivity within any given area. They only reinforce more of the same dumb behaviour: that of encouraging blind following."

Nigel Price - Guitar

Nigel is never one to sit on the fence and his reasoning that followed was well balanced but unfortunately too long to reproduce, so here's a snippet,
"...it's still a totally open vote and if we get enough people to cast theirs then it could turn into a true representation of who and what musicians and non musicians alike find most worth applauding on a national scale.
What's wrong with that?"

Colin

Both had a point of course, Big Bear had pre-selected or chosen the nominations, so its wasn't entirely a free vote and yet here was a chance for our voice to be heard. An opportunity I grasped with both hands, well, at least my two digits on my laptop keyboard.

To metaphorically 'live or die' in front of an audience, Nigel Price has laid down the gauntlet this evening. With just three performers on the stage, there was nowhere to hide, although the mood lighting meant they operated like cold war spies in a purple tungsten glow. This was the cleverest of performances, full of subtleties, the trio tonight played their hands with a deftness that teased the crowd in front of them.

Larry Bartley - Bass

Georgia Mancio sat well back from the stage's edge, as though succumbing to an intolerance of 'The limelight'. This only pulled the audience forward and many of us sat with elbows on knees. Earlier in the week I had sketched the multi-instrumental-voiced singer Jan Ponsford for Mr Rainlore and Mancio's voice felt gentle in comparison. First impressions can be deceiving, it seems her power isn't like a wave that crashes over you but that lapping Mediterranean kind which casts the mind adrift into playful daydreams.

Nigel Price is a hard man to read visually, particularly this evening, he was flanked by the tall figure of Larry Bartley and willowy Mancio. This made him look like a grumpy garden gnome who was fishing for imaginary carp, an image that was totally dispelled once he reeled in the audience on the end of his guitar hooks. He looked happy. Excelling on Latin intricacies, like the samba styled Coots tune 'You go to my head'. His solo on 'That old black magic' was granted a standing ovation from TJC dude Colin amongst others.

Zoran Matic

I've drawn Larry Bartley before at Alex Hutton's Friday Nolias residency and knew I was in the company of a fellow artist, so I hope my drawings will find his approval. Larry and I weren't the only artists in attendance and I managed to get a quick sketch of an intense Zoran Matic.

Kelvin Christiane - Sax

Twickenham Jazz Club favourite Kelvin Christiane joined the trio for a superb Stanley Turrentine finale on Soprano and then chaos ensued. Price had earlier urged the public to vote for their heroes and his plea hadn't fallen on deaf ears. They stood and kept applauding until an encore was granted, confusion reigned because of Mancio's imminent Stansted flight to Germany and the Jazzahead Festival/Conference. She sacrificed her precious sleeping time and gave the people what they wanted.

Later that night a bewildered Nigel Price commented
"The crowd literally went mental!
It was a bit disconcerting in a way.
Very odd."
Well you asked for the people's opinion.
They voted for you, Georgia and Larry.

We still stand up for what we believe in!

AL.

Nibble on Paul 'Jazzmouse' Fawcus

 

Paul Jazzmouse Fawcus

Even in my brief spell writing for this blog my descriptive words veer toward the hard edged and combative. Likening trumpets to guns and the musicians themselves to duelling heroes. I am not the first and I'm sure I wont be the last. Last Thursday though the audience at Twickenham Jazz Club (The Bloomsbury, 11/04/2013) saw a different type of performance. This was crisp, understated and very much grown up Jazz.

Ken McCarthy - piano

The Seven musicians on stage were led by the headmaster figure of Ken McCarthy on piano/keys who kept his charges on their toes. In fact he had a surprise test for his boys, the first tune 'Blues for an old new age' was executed in near darkness, they had to remember their lines or it would be five lashes from the Bloomsbury audience. Luckily the light switch was found and like the second tune, Dave Grusin's 'Summer Sketches' electric sunshine radiated out towards us.

Andy Rogers - Trombone

Through out the evening I was particularly captured by one man who defied definition although he was a dream to draw. He had an air both of wildness and domesticity. His nickname is very apt, he is to my knowledge the one and only Jazzmouse in existence, a rare species indeed. Now as you may know Jazz monikers often suggest innuendo or macho connotations, just to Paul's left was a good example, Andy 'Rapid Tongue' Rogers. Jazzmouse is every inch his name, diminutive and scrurrying on his saxophone, you could even see a bright warm face behind the whiskers. He has the greatest stage presence for a rodent since the emergence of Roland Rat in the 1980's and much more musical talent.

Henry Armburg Jennings - Trumpet

It felt more like a Dr Dolittle's menagerie at one point with an excellent version of Herbie Hancock's 'Dolphin Dance' featuring a superb solo by the very human Henry Armburg Jennings. A likeable figure from the exterior he expresses a relaxed air with his sneakered attire and playing.

Elliot Henshaw - drums

Even though Elliot Henshaw was doing his best to be hidden behind a mass of charts his influence was strong on the evening. Crisp and dynamic, it made tunes like Joe Henderson's 'Inner Urge' resonate and propelled the McCarthy penned tune 'Zugzwang' to its inevitable dramatic Check-Mate.

Neil

Healthy and educated applause rippled regularly for local favourite Kelvin Christiane despite the crowd being under strength. This made my drawing much easier so I spent some of time drawing the audience. If you ever make it to the club you'll know of two gentlemen who regularly man the door and collect the raffle money at half-time. This Abbot and Costello duo, or Neil and Terry as I learned later, have long been a fixture at the club and it was pleasure to be able to capture them in my sketchbook.

Terry

Next I turned my attention to another familiar face. I couldn't quite put my finger on where or when I'd seen him before. He had a remarkable resemblance to a young blonde Leonid Brezhnev so I gave him a friendly Zdravstvuj and hoped for the best. It transpired Max is the go-to extra on London's film circuit, you will have seen him most recently in 'Dancing on the Edge', 'Anna Karenina', 'The Look of Love' and yes, you guessed it he was Brezhnev in 'X-Men First Class'. Na zdorovje!



Lesley Christiane

A crowd sketch wouldn't be complete without two of Twickenham Jazz Club's biggest supporters Lesley Christiane's father and Peter, The Bloomsbury's landlord/Swing Jazz Supremo.

Peter

It was a great relief to hear Lesley Christiane back on form with her performance of 'Let there be Love'. For it is Lesley who will be hosting our Jazz Art Exhibition, Concert and Barbeque on Saturday 25th May (2-5pm).
Tasty fare for any Jazzmice out there, Culture, Music and Nibbles.

Come and join us!

AL.


Nick Pugh - Bass

Max

Lesley's Father