The Fire Hose 1 Jazzmen

Denis Goodwin, Mike Dexter, Richard Slater - The Fire Hose 1 Jazzmen

Led by Matt Palmer on reeds along with Dave Leithead on trumpet (and fire claxon), Dave Crossley on trombone, Jazz On A Sunday loyalty card carrier Malcolm Hogarth on piano, Jim Wright on banjo, Richard Slater on sousaphone and Dennis Goodwin on drums, good time jazzers Fire Hose 1 were back again at The New Town National Club on Sunday 19 July.

After kicking off the session with New Orleans standard ‘That’s A Plenty’ they launched into one of their trademark group vocals ‘My Honey’s Loving Arms’ followed by the Kid Ory favourite ‘Muskrat Ramble’.

Jim Wright assumed centre stage to solo on ‘Way Down Upon The Swanee River’ then it was back to mass choir mode and ‘I’m Gonna Charleston Back to My Old Shack In Charleston’.

Some vintage Malcolm Hogarth followed courtesy of his boogie woogie piano offering ‘The Jazz Club Bounce’ and the “toot ensemble” brought the first set to a close with ‘The Original Dixieland One Step’

Set two opened by celebrating the manifold attractions of ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ then the band doffed a collective helmet, albeit indirectly, to their inspirers, nineteen fifties Dixieland outfit Firehouse Five Plus Two - whose “day jobs” had it transpired been with the Walt Disney organisation – by way of ‘Bear Necessities’ from the Disney film The Jungle Book.

The seminal trumpet/piano pairing of Humphrey Lyttelton and Johnny Parker was recalled by Malcolm and Dave and their ‘Bad Penny Blues’ after which Matt took the vocal on ‘I’d Like To Get You On A Slow Boat To China’.

The tempo increased with ‘Fidgety Feet’, easing for another mass vocal, the Firehouse Five Plus Two favourite ‘Tuck Me To Sleep In My Old Kentucky Home’ before becoming semi-manic again for Dave Crossley’s rendition (with Dave Leithead inexplicably attempting to assume a Marilyn Monroe persona) of ‘Running Wild.

Mass vocals were again the order as set three began with the front line enquiring ‘Has Anybody Seen My Gal’. Richard’s sousaphone recalled afternoons spent ‘Up A Lazy River’, Jim parleyed the delights of the ‘Isle Of Capri’ with its enduring Rochdale associations and Matt drew on the film The Benny Goodman Story with Eubie Blake’s ‘Memories Of You’ before sadly they were off back down the motorways leaving us wanting much more of the like of ‘My Cutie’s Due At Two To Two’, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’ and ‘Tiger Rag’.