Jazz on Sunday: Spirit of New Orleans, The Sopranos, The Blue Magnolia Jass Orchestra

The Blue Magnolia Jass Orchestra trombonist Andrew Mackenzie

Backed by Delph-based Spirit of New Orleans, Jazz on a Sunday welcomed much-travelled Brummie trombonist Mike Owen on 28 February; from the midlands and assorted outposts south and westwards, Chris Pearce with The Sopranos on 13 March and one of Liverpool’s finest, The Blue Magnolia Jass Orchestra, on 20 March.

All three had been regular visitors and a number of changes were therefore readily apparent, be they presentational - with Spirit Of New Orleans needing to accommodate the evening's headliner Owen; changed repertoires - Chris Pearce Frenchman Street Jazz having somehow ‘morphed’ en route to Castleton into The Sopranos; and following upon a series of sad losses a number of quite radical changes personnel-wise among the Blue Mags.

Spirit Of New Orleans were outstanding in their own right yet what we had was essentially a Mike Owen de force by way of New Orleans tailgate style trombone playing of the highest order exemplified in his referencing of Kid Ory, mirroring of the Big Bill Bissonnette recording of ‘I'm With You Where You Are’, perfect 'take' on the world-weariness implicit in Jack Teagarden's voice in ‘A Hundred Years From Today’ and his blowing up a storm alongside incumbent trombonist Mike Taylor on the loudly acclaimed ‘Panama’.

Whilst deferring somewhat to the kinds of number that had helped pay the mortgage for all those years – witness ‘Stevedore Stomp’, ‘Chimes Blues’, ‘Louisiana’, ‘Oh Sister Ain't That Hot’ and the like – sometime boy soprano Chris Pearce and his reed-laden associates, having (this time around) wittingly dispensed with the services of a trumpet player, went all self-indulgent on us (a la Bechet/Mezzrow, Wilber/Daverne) but all the more enjoyable that became by dint of being unexpected. Highlights there were many with ‘Dans Les Rues D' Antibes’, ‘The Coffee Grinder’, ‘Out Of The Gallion’, ‘Really The Blues’ and ‘Petite Fleur’ being but a few, so if this really was some sort of try-on by Chris then more power to his elbow.

Heading up the “Blue Mags” recently recruited trombonist Andrew Mackenzie arrived with a new trumpet player (Phil Lucas), pianist (Malcolm Hogarth), bass player (Isabel Toner), drummer (Linton Ali) and sound engineer (Gareth Glyn-Williams) leaving only their long-serving reedsman Harold Troughton remaining from the lineups of yesteryear. Plenty of mileage in these new “old dogs” though. Three sets, twenty four numbers - including ‘Muskrat Ramble’, ‘Jazz Me Blues’, ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ AND ‘Running Wild’.