Christmas Party - New Orleans Heat

Over a hundred partygoers crammed into the Broadfield for the ‘Jazz on a Sunday’ Christmas party to be royally entertained by one of the best bands around ‘New Orleans Heat’, and the dance floor was bouncing all night long!

This well established band has musicians of the highest quality from all over England and Wales. Local lad Dave Donohoe often takes the trombone slot, and the front line is completed by the powerful cornet and gravelly voice of Swansea’s Gwyn Lewis and the melodious tones of Cardiff’s John Scantlebury’s Clarinet.

Led on the piano by Loughborough’s Barry Grummett, this tight rhythm section has Derbyshire’s quiet man Harry Slater on double bass, Hereford’s Dion Cochrane on drums and the band’s scribe Tony Peatman playing his Lincoln banjo.

The crowd were soon in festive mood with the rousing “St Louis Blues” and “Bugle Boy March” the spiritual “Lily of the Valley” and the dreamy “Darkness on the Delta” with Donohoe’s muted trombone and “Would you believe” Lewis’s muted voice? But Gwyn opened his voice box to finish the first set with “On a coconut Island”.

Suitably refreshed the band blasted off with “Ice Cream”, “Well It Was Plenty Hot” then Lewis’s melancholy “Blue Christmas” – I think I heard Elvis crying – Scantlebury’s fine tones in the popular “Redwing” and the “Careless Love” of Donohoe – “Don’t Tell the Wife”, whilst all the time an integral rhythm blend oiled this fine tuned machine.

The last set went festive – “Girl of My Dreams” was followed by “Winter Wonderland”, “Jingle Bells”, “Silent Night” a mellowed voice of Lewis with “My Blue Heaven”, before Lewis led the band in blasting everyone into the New Year with “Rebecca Rebecca” – whew!

Well it’s now 2007 and the Rochdale Jazz Club welcomes a first time visit of Manchester’s Howard Allen Band – Sunday January 7 – 8.00pm.

Christmas Party - New Orleans Heat
Broadfield Hotel
Sunday 17 December