Music: Jazz On A Sunday

New Orleans Heat, Jazz On A Sunday

Thanks in considerable measure to the unstinting efforts of organiser Tony Sheldon the opening months of Jazz On A Sunday’s 2016/2017 season saw the accustomed high standard of entertainment provided maintained and along with it a pleasing increase in average audience attendances.

New Year, as is customarily the case for Jazz on a Sunday adherents, arrived some twelve weeks early when on 9 October Danish band Doc Houlind’s New Orleans Revival were welcome return visitors to Castleton’s New Town National Club. Equally, if not even more, enthusiastically applauded as they had been on their first appear-ance here with their Scandianavian, oriented ‘take’ on New Orleans style jazz, it is to be hoped that they will be back again before too long

Come the end of October and came the ever, popular New Orleans Heat. Led by pianist Barry Grummett this seven piece band brought us old style New Orleans jazz encompassing stomp, blues, hymn, even pop of the era in the styles (inter alia) of the Bunk Johnson, George Lewis and Kid Thomas bands. As it said on the label it was hot, very hot.

November rolled in and mirroring the unseasonable weather the music was cool, though hot. First up were the temporarily ‘reconfigured’ Amy Robert Quintet, who had reeds player par excellence John Hallam filling in for the temporarily unavailable Richard Exall, and an offering more measured, less raw certainly, but mightily swinging neverthess to the enthusiastic acclaim of what has become for Amy an accustomed near full house.

Still in November, whilst remaining true to its historic roots in music from around the Mississippi and revisiting the seminally important King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Dodds and of course Louis Armstrong eras, the latest incarnation of the long, established Merseysippi Jazz Band also contrived to include a variety of novelty and comic songs from those years, rehearsing for example BBC Saturday Club performances by Manchester’s Clinton Ford.

December and 2016 proper came to a resounding conclusion with visits first from bass player Peter Frank’s Dixieland All Stars who had promised to light up the sky with their hot southern jazz, and did.

Then in the week before Christmas it was time for Jazz On A Sunday’s annual knees,up. There was warm mince pies aplenty plus Delph-based Spirit of New Orleans in full party mode and in overdrive.

2017 beckoned.