Graeme Taylor's FatSax

Piers Green

Andy Tolman

FatSax
Graeme Taylor - piano
Sam Walker - tenor saxophone
Kelvin Christiane - tenor saxophone
Piers Green - alto saxophone
Andy Mears - alto saxophone
Ollie Weston - baritone saxophone
Andy Tolman - bass
Mike Bradley - drums

Graeme Taylor

Graeme Taylor's FatSax project tips its hat to the world's most classy tribute act of all time, Supersax. Created in 1972 to honour the iconic bebop music of saxophonist Charlie Parker it went on to feature a ever changing role call of talented musicians. Taylor has trimmed the original Supersax format for this concert at Twickenham Jazz Club by removing the trumpet/trombone element but still there was plenty of brass to go round with 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones and baritone alongside bass, drums and of course Graeme Taylor himself on piano.

Sam Walker

It is two years since I have experienced FatSax and not much has changed apart from the personnel and why should it. If you have a winning formula then all that is needed is a gentle caress. Taylor spices up his own recipe with changes in arrangement and a subtle stir of the musicians. Fatsax is unashamedly macho in the flex of its muscle. It is fast, furious and virile.

Ollie Weston

On what would have been Bud Powell's 92nd birthday FatSax gave us the emperor's bullet of Tempus Fugit. Clashing and proud this was pectoral jazz as puffed chests smashed together. Ollie Weston was the slippery Deepthroat, he lathered himself up, writhing in his solo like a electric eeled Schwarzenegger, his baritone was a throbbing manliness. Andy Tolman's bass was the ebullient fizz as Mike Bradley popped the corks on drums. Piers Green's alto had the easy lasso of a rancher, the steer man held his reins while waving victoriously to the Twickenham Jazz Club crowd.

Mike Bardley

Moment's Notice was a rich chop, ducks all lined in a row for the audience, shooting fish in a barrel, sugar coated and cigar puffs. It was easy to lay down and let the sax wash all over us. The meat of the music was laid on a plate, full in the mouth, a gravy indulgence. With the glittering of the saxophones' golden thrusts we all became locked in FatSax's bronze cell of speed and dexterity. It was a metallic cascade which rained upon us, we were the accommodating Danae and Graeme Taylor was our Zeus.

AL.

Kelvin Christiane

Andy Mears

Tumultuous Tenors - Sam Walker & Kelvin Christiane

Sam Walker - Tenor Saxophone

When two tenor saxophones come together it is often like watching two stags rutting in nearby Bushy Park. They stamp upon each other up, puffing chests and locking horns. Not so at Twickenham Jazz Club (19/05/2015) with the twin barrels of Tumultuous Tenors Kelvin Christiane and Sam Walker. This was a thinking man's performance from two musicians not afraid to show their cerebral side, where the bond was brotherhood rather than battle.

Jim Treweek - piano

It would be easy to have gourmand eyes for just the main Tenor dish, but it was a gentle start and one that suited Jim Treweek on piano. He is no stranger to the finer arts and with sleek fingers to match his chiselled cheek and jaw he makes an excellent artist's model. He is no stranger to pencil and pad himself, like the bassist Larry Bartley it seems Treweek is one of our many renaissance men on London's Jazz circuit.

Akos Hosznos - Bass

Wayne Shorter's 'Down Under' was broken apart and reconstructed by the Tenors, it was a puzzler, a gilt edged jigsaw. It was Thelonious Monk's 'Well, You Needn't' though that really swelled the chests of musicians and audience alike. Its first breath was of discordant colours, but soon these were worn with pride on lapels, there was a dandy stride that reeked of confidence and the twin tenors of Christiane and Walker wore stripes and spots in a winning combination.

Kelvin Christiane - Tenor Saxophone

Walker excelled in broken short mouthed stabs that were an anthem for the anxious amongst us. His stride lengthened too and although the Monk tune was penned in 1944 the arrangement by Tony Faulkner made us think of more modern times. We strode with confidence down Twickenham highways, the Burger Kings slipped past, we were urban heroes who danced through the crowds, sidestep and jink took us past buzzing diners. There was a resistance and yet a revelling in the modern life, there was disquiet and still a joy in living.

Noel Joyce - drums

Walker was at it again on 'You Don't Know What Love Is' and he drew the crepuscular blanket across the gap in lazy day and lazy night. It was a languid flight of the bumblebee, thick with dreams and an insomniac night air.

Never forget 'Angel Eyes' herself, Lesley Christiane started the second set but will be performing the full repertoire at the next Twickenham Jazz Club art exhibition and barbeque on the 26th July 2015. Free entry and delicious food from 1-5pm.

Lesley Christiane

AL.

Graeme Taylor - Fat Sax

Piers Green - Alto saxophone

Ahead of us are so many obvious pitfalls that I will endeavour not to afflict upon you too many cringeworthy metaphors, nor make this journey to odious. Despite having 9 musicians and an elephant in the room at Twickenham Jazz Club (19/06/2014) Graeme Taylor's Fat Sax still had room to swing the modest audience by their coat tails. The elephant in question shot himself in the foot midway through the performance with the aid of two goals from Luis Suarez. Yes, this was the night of England's game against Uruguay in the 2014 World Cup. I will not say anything more it, for all our sakes.

Damian Cook - Alto

Graeme Taylor's Fat Sax project tips its hat to the world's most classy tribute act of all time, Supersax. Created in 1972 to honour the iconic bebop music of saxophonist Charlie Parker. It went on to feature a ever changing role call of talented musicians, including a personal favourite, Blue Mitchell. Taylor has kept true to the original format of 2 alto saxes (Piers Green, Damian Cook), 2 tenor saxes (Sam Walker, Toby Stewart) and  baritone (Ollie Weston), trumpet (Sid Gauld) and a rhythm section of bass (Rob Hutchinson),  drums (Mike Bradley) and the man himself on piano.

Sid Gauld - trumpet

The early exchanges surprisingly weren't dominated by the saxophone, this was reserved for trumpeter Sid Gauld. He was the lone herald on a battlefield, playing with clarity while the cavalry's steeds pawed the ground behind him. Gauld certainly wasn't cannon fodder and his 'hammerhead' approach broke through our defences with power and grace. On the 3rd tune, John Coltrane's 'Moment's notice' he stood proud, but we were starting to feel charge of the saxophones.

Toby Stewart - Tenor Sax

It was a overwhelming sensation to be sat in front of the Fat Sax wall of sound. It was not only their broad shoulders that blocked out much of The Bloomsbury 'atmospheric' lighting but the rolling wave of music that dominated the rest of the night. Often playing as one organic force they resembled a manly waterfall. Bud Powell's 'Tempus Fugit' epitomised this fast and furious approach, where the saxophones seem to fire all together yet spray off in their own jets of pleasure. A little like 5 men synchronised at an urinal but with much sweeter consequences.

Graeme Taylor - piano

Graeme Taylor broke into the rush of joyous and swinging saxophones with his own up-tempo artistry. Taylor is hard to capture in the sketchbook, he looks both muscular and light of foot and his eyes seem to have the sort of permanent twinkle reserved for American sitcoms and Casanovas. He is one of the movers and shakers at The Gunnersbury, where Big Band's perform on Sunday lunchtimes including his very own the Hot Waffle Big Band. Modest as always he lurks in the background but let me shed just a little light on his talents as a composer and arranger. You can now gets your hand on his 'charts' at Big Jazz Face, which isn't a euphemism but an invitation to play White Sand, his fast, furious, fantastic Latin composition with your own big band.




Sam Walker - Tenor Sax

The second set was equally attack minded with Sam Walker's tenor proving a talking point amongst the modest, attentive and knowledgeable crowd. Attributes (I do not know about modesty) displayed by Walker himself, for no other performer listened more keenly at his comrades playing nor applauded more generously. 'Moose the Mooche' gave us the shot in the arm that is Rob Hutchinson on bass but also a vocalising scatting interlude by polymath and drummer Mike Bradley.



Mike Bradley - drums

The over-riding theme of the night was the interchange between the Brass' togetherness and each individual's skill. Dexter Gordon's 'Cheese Cake' was the manifestation of this theory, compositionally switch-hitting between pace and personnel. Continuity kept on taking a cigarette break while the aforementioned Hutchinson and Bradley decadently blew smoke rings in our direction.

Ollie Weston - Baritone Sax

It is hard to single out one performer from the united line of saxophones but Ollie Weston's baritone was at it's most lyrical during Fat Sax's rendition of Charlie Parker's 'Confirmation'. Weston was nimble and light footed whilst negotiating the tune's complex chord changes. He was the gate that let me enter Fat Sax's wall of sound and sit up in my ivory tower as I watched the desolate England football fans sadly trudge below.

AL.

Rob Hutchinson - bass

Gabriel Garrick - The Roundabout of Life

Gabriel Garrick - Flugelhorn

I'd drawn him a few times before of course and heard a few tales but this was my first time with Gabriel Garrick's own tunes and to experience him as a frontman in his fleshy best. Last Sunday (5/5/2013) was my first visit to The Green Dragon in Croydon too, and it seemed long-overdue. It proved to be an excellent location, with a ample and laid-back crowd, who balanced and swapped weekend newspaper sections amongst each other with familiarity.
With its heavy air-conditioning conduit overheard it looked every inch the urban jazz den. An image that was shattered of course when the heavy drapes were opened and the sparkling May sunshine spilled in.



Sam Walker - Saxophone

It is always a strange experience when absorbing yourself  in the perceived darkness of Jazz whilst wallowing in full blown daylight. More than once Garrick mistook day for night and mixed the two up in his announcements. Despite some late night activity, none of the musicians looked too bleary eyed but poor Sam Walker arrived on the brink of the first tune, '(Birks Works) Insurance Blues' after negotiating the wonders of Croydon's road network.

Matt Ridley - Bass

It was great to hear/see Garrick playing the lead role, the only previous occasions I had drawn him was in Big Band action where he was very badly behaved along with most of the trumpets. He has perfected the naughty schoolboy look, a slight looseness to the lips that seem permanently wet, about to utter a cheeky quip or possessing that sparkling gloss after a quick freshen from his beverage. By no means a schoolboy in 'Just William' terms, there is courage and steel in his speech, never shy to cast his opinion or to take a stand.

Alan Jackson - Drums

My long suffering wife had given me special dispensation to be here, the Bank Holiday DIY jobs weren't going to do themselves after all. So Garrick generously gave me some time and spoke lucidly about his father's death and his new direction.

"I didn't live in my Dad's shadow but I'm so like him it wasn't necessary to take his space or place, I never wanted to push him out of the nest. It's nearly 18 months since dad's death and I've done more in that time than in the whole rest of my career. Now I'm thriving on a concoction of responsibility and freedom. I wasn't ready at the time, who is, but I haven't looked back since being thrown off the roundabout of life."

Will Bartlett - piano

To emphasise the mixture of the past and future in his life, old-hand Alan Jackson dominated on 'In a Mellotone' and then new-blood Matt Ridley excelled on bass during the third tune 'Someday my prince will come'. Jackson had reached such a high by the fourth, 'Skylark', that he had dispensed with his spectacles and was flying free.

I listened to the title track from one of his new albums 'Song For My Father' before leaving but it had been his 'Insurance Blues' that had piqued my interest and I'll be getting my hands on his other release 'Sunlight' before too long.

As I walked out the door I had a brief chat with the canny Ken Carter, we discussed the imminent refurbishment (and maybe loss of Jazz) at The Bull's Head. It struck me that venues like The Green Dragon need to be supported and encouraged more than ever, so we/they can nurture fresh original work.

On the way home my life stretched before me like the long list of Bank Holiday DIY jobs that awaited me. I wasn't too downhearted, after all, tomorrow is a new day and the Roundabout of Life already had a few surprises ready for me.

AL.