Issue 12 2010

♫ Notes from The Manor ♪♫ Steve & Ian review the recent gigs that we hope you enjoyed (but may unfortunately have missed!)… November December

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National Youth Jazz Orchestra Ed Puddick Big Band Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band

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The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (November 21st) The Band: Bill Ashton directing Chris Eldred (piano): Sandy Sucholdolski (bass guitar); Rob Luft (guitar); Scott Chapman (drums); Dave Elliott (percussion); Mark Perry, Tom Syson, Louis Dowdeswell, Nick Meal (trumpets); Ross Andeson, Pete Whitehouse, Chris Valentine (tenor trombones), Barry Clements (bass trombone); Anna Drysdale (French horn); saxophones: Johnny Griffith & Simon Marsh (altos), Nadim Teimori & Tom Stone (tenors), Michael Underwood (baritone); Helen Wilson (flute). Sarah Ellen Hughes was the guest vocalist. The Music: Cannon Fodder (Alan Ganley) : Putney Vale (Tom Stone, arr. Callum Au) : La Muchacha Do Colombia (Martin Williams) : Are We Nearly There Yet? (Callum Au) : Looking Back (v) (Derek Goom/Bill Ashton, arr. Mark Nightingale) : Looking Forward (v) (Bill Ashton, arr. Evan Jolly) : Groove Rider (Gareth Lockrane) : Unison In All Things (Andy Panayi) : Return Flight (Tom Stone ) : Neale’s Yard (Martin Williams) : Sweet London Bridge : Bustance (Callum Au) : Here’s That Rainy Day (Johnny Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen, arr. Phil Woods) : No Moon At All (v) (David A Mann/Redd Evans, arr. Dave Foster) : I Have Been Here Before (v) (Christine Denmead/Alec Gould) : Heat Of The Moment (v) (Bill Ashton/Dick Walter, arr. Dick Walter) The Gig: The final NYJO gig at The Manor before Christmas was notable for a one-off return to the vocal chair, after an absence of nearly 21/2 years, of Sarah Ellen Hughes – standing in for the absent Emma Smith and shamelessly promoting her own big band première here at the beginning of December! The session itself was the usual mix of numbers written especially for the band, either by alumni or current players, a smattering of standards and a selection of bespoke songs by Bill Ashton and his regular roster of writers. The concert started with the late Allan Ganley’s Cannon Fodder. It’s a tribute to Cannonball Adderley but, oddly, there are no solos for the altos: today’s came from the tenors of Tom Stone (right) and Nadim Teimori, and Mark Perry's trumpet. Tom Stone also had a couple of his own compositions in the concert: Putney Vale, a languorous ballad, in which his long and absorbing solo, played initially with just the rhythm section, eventually had the backing of the full band. We were also treated to a solo from Rob Luft’s guitar. Return Flight featured Rob and Mark together during the intro – Mark, Tom Stone and Scott Chapman provided the solos. Ex- NYJO tenor man Martin Williams contributed a couple of numbers to the proceedings: La Muchacha Do Colombia is an oft-played favourite of the band, on which Nadim and Mark had some further solo exposure, whilst Scott and percussionist Dave Elliott enjoyed the tune’s signature drum/percussion dialogue towards the end.

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Issue 12 2010 More Notes from The Manor ♫ Martin’s second number, Neale’s Yard, was a sprightly tune he’d originally written for ex-NYJO flautist Alison Neale. Today it was a feature for Helen Wilson (left) on flute, initially playing the melody duetting with her bloke Dave on vibes, then giving us a virtuoso solo and finally performing in a threesome with Dave and Scott – cracking stuff! There was also a brace of scores from Callum Au: a clone of Anthony Adams’s Almost There, entitled Are We Nearly There Yet? was a gentle ballad which featured Rob on guitar throughout – it's a very attractive tune and Johnny Griffiths helped out with an alto solo. The second was the more rumbustious Bustance, which was a feature for Barry Clements’ brilliant bass trombone playing and also included a particularly intricate sax section soli. Ex-NYJO flautist Gareth Lockrane’s classic Groove Rider gave Ross Anderson his first solo knock – Scott, Helen and Rob also got to demonstrate their solo prowess – whilst former NYJO tenor man Andy Panayi’s arrangement of Jerome Kern’s and Oscar Hammerstein’s All The Things You Are, which he called Unison In All Things (because, when he wrote it, NYJO was being sponsored by the Unison trade union), featured solos from Johnny and Nadim as well as Chris Eldred and Rob. Phil Woods’ arrangement of that well-known jazz standard, Here’s That Rainy Day, was a feature for the alto of Simon Marsh (left) who gave a languid reading of this delightful ballad supported by the band floating on a bed of Scott’s subtle brushwork – just delightful! Sarah Ellen’s vocal contributions were remarkable for the fact that, despite the fact that someone (no names, etc.) had forgotten to bring the vocal pad, she was able to re-create her five-number guest set entirely from memory… Looking Forward and Looking Back are two of Bill’s songs which Sarah Ellen said she’d always thought of as a pair – the first being about ‘New Love’ and the second, starting with the last five notes of the first, about ‘Old Love’. She sang them beautifully, albeit in the wrong order! The sax section had a soli in ‘Back’ and Chris provided a tasteful piano introduction for ‘Forward’. Her assured reading of No Moon At All demonstrated just how much Sarah Ellen (right) has developed since last singing with NYJO. With just Sandy Sucholdolski’s bass accompanying the vocal, the softly swinging introduction developed with some vibes accompaniment from Dave before Tom Stone took the tenor solo. I Have Been Here Before is a quintessentially bittersweet Christine Denmead song, to which Sarah Ellen bought just the right amount of knowing angst, while Ross provided a suitably poignant trombone counterpoint. Sarah Ellen wrapped up with a classy rendition of that great Dick Walter swinger, Heat Of The Moment, that showed her at the top of her form. A sexy duet intro with Chris’s piano, complete with finger snaps, and a confident negotiation of the complex vocalese passage showed complete control of the material – and Johnny’s alto solo and Tom Stone’s lyrical tenor solo just provided the icing on a very special cake… NYJO are now embarking on a series of Big Band Xmas gigs around the country, which include performances of Paul Hart’s six-movement A Christmas Carol Suite complete with readings from the Dickens’ story. Meanwhile, we’re looking forward to the band’s return here on Monday 27th December for its traditional Feast Of St John concert. SH/IF

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Issue 12 2010 --ooOoo--

More Notes from The Manor ♫

The Ed Puddick Big Band (November 28th) The Band: Ed Puddick (left) directing Tom Farmer (bass); Paul Clarvis (drums); Chris Allard (guitar); Robbie Robson, Noel Langley, Percy Pursglove (trumpets); Dave Liddell, Simon Walker (tenor trombones), Andy Lester (bass trombone/tuba); Reeds: Mick Foster (alto), Sam Crockett, George Crowley (tenors), Tom Ward (baritone); Jim Rattigan (French horn). The Music: The First Of The Year * : The Usual SusChords * : Bluegaloo (Simon Walker) : Vertigo (Chris Allard) : Guys & Dolls (Frank Loesser) : Adelaide’s Lament (Frank Loesser) : Process * : The Springbok * : If I Were A Bell (Frank Loesser) : Luck Be A Lady Tonight (Frank Loesser) : Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpont) : Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson). (All the arranging was done by Ed Puddick and he also composed those marked *)

The Gig: This was a special concert by one of the most refreshing of the bands we regularly host at The Manor, the Ed Puddick Big Band – special in that it was the formal launch the band’s first CD, a recording of Ed’s acclaimed Guys And Dolls Suite, which received its live world première here back in September 2006. Prior to the tasters from the CD however, we were treated to another première – The First Of The Year was evidently written back in January but, as it was only receiving its first outing 10 months later, Ed was considering renaming it Better Late Than Never! This sprightly mainstream number gave Percy Pursglove, Tom Farmer and Mick Foster their first solo outings, with Paul Clarvis contributing a percussive finish. The Usual Sus-Chords gets its title from the film The Usual Suspects and because it features the use of 'suspended chords' (whatever they are…). It's a clever piece of music, which starts with a chorale like statement by the full ensemble playing prolonged chords broken up with stabbing notes from the saxophones. Chris Allard (left) soloed on guitar and provided the counterpoint to the band’s semi-freeform coda. Back in September 2008, Ed asked various band members to contribute original compositions to the band’s pad: Simon Walker's was without a title when he gave it to Ed, who suggested Bluegaloo, on the basis of that’s what the medium paced swinger sounded like…Robbie Robson, Simon, Mick and Sam Crockett played the solos. Vertigo was Chris’s brainchild, a ballad to which he contributed an acapella introduction. There were solos from Noel Langley (flugelhorn), Chris and Dave Liddell, who brought a change of pace to proceedings and a different approach to the tune. Noel (flugel) and Sam played the concluding solos. Then we were on to excerpts from the CD, starting with the title song Guys And Dolls, an ideal vehicle for a good old flag-waving blow. Paul introduced it with some deft arrhythmic cymbal work over the trumpet section and some massed flutes before the band enthusiastically settled into a medium swing groove – Simon and Paul were the featured soloists. In the eponymous film, Adelaide's Lament is treated as a bit of a comedy song. Ed however has given the tune, which was largely a feature for Nick Heidfeld lookalike Tom Ward's bass clarinet (right) a very moving treatment, which showed it in an entirely different light.

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Issue 12 2010 More Notes from The Manor ♫ Process is an original number, apparently based on a complicated mathematical progression, that Ed has re-worked since its last outing here into a delightful and attractive bossa-nova feature for the trombone section. Chris introduced the tune before the band came in – we later heard fruity solos from Simon, Dave and Simon again. The Springbok is written in a loping 15/8 time, which Ed said he used because "fifteen" brought to mind rugby football, which in turn led him to think of South Africa and hence the title. It's a gently swinging ‘township’-flavoured tune, which started with another arrhythmic introduction, this time by Chris’s guitar and Mick’s flute over bass clarinet and trombone figures. Once into gear, Chris and Tom Farmer together led in the clarinets over muted trumpets, then the trombones and finally the saxes joined in to make up the full ensemble. We heard an inventive solo from Chris – accompanied by just Paul and Tom Farmer – then Robbie, and Mick (right) on soprano soloed before the gentle band coda over variations on the introductory bass clarinet motif. Back with the Guys And Dolls excerpts, If I Were A Bell started off surprisingly slowly, with Percy (left) leading on flugelhorn over some subtle brushwork by Paul; then the band introduced an upward change of tempo, with Percy soloing on flugelhorn over some sassy sax section work, before we heard solos from Tom Farmer, the trombone section, and Chris. Luck Be A Lady Tonight was a superb swinger: Percy started it off with some magnificent slow, bluesy plunger muted trumpet before Ed upped the tempo and George Crowley, on clarinet, had a first solo. Later Jim Rattigan and George traded French horn and clarinet fours before the ensemble finish. The concert ended with a preview of a couple of Ed’s new arrangements of well-known Christmas numbers: Jingle Bells was an extended vehicle (with some Rudolph quotes!) for Robbie, Mick on soprano and Chris to dispense some suitably staccato seasonal cheer, whilst Sleigh Ride was something really rather special. In an arrangement inspired, so Ed said, by his listening to Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman band, Tom Ward’s bass clarinet introduced this storming big band swinger, which showcased Chris and George in a beautifully-written guitar and clarinet duet. Chris then took a sublime Christian-esque solo, single-note runs interspersed with block chord passages, before George (now on tenor) soloed with just the rhythm section. The trumpets and trombones then traded riffs and Paul contributed some nice drum work before a reprise of the guitar/clarinet duet over the bass clarinet introductory motif brought proceedings to a classy close. This session amply demonstrated once again Ed's mastery of creating great original tunes and bringing out delicate tone colours from familiar ones, injecting them with fresh life. We were therefore desperately disappointed (not to mention extremely embarrassed) that this time so few people were able to support our efforts in hosting a band of this considerable quality. Despite the poor turnout, Ed and the band took the trouble to put on an entertaining, albeit single-set, show and the small audience who did attend were unanimously positive and enthusiastic about Ed’s programme selection (and his between-numbers patter!), his beautifully written arrangements and the quality of the band members’ musicianship – unfortunately, this genuine appreciation came nowhere near to making up for the band’s paltry financial reward… SH/IF --ooOoo--

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Issue 12 2010 More Notes from The Manor ♫

The Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band (December 5th)

The Band: Sarah Ellen Hughes (vocals/flute, front right) and Anna Hughes (vocals/ trumpet/flugel, front left) co-leading (from left) Rob Taggart (keyboard); Matt Ridley (bass); Paul Robinson (drums); Henry Armburg-Jennings, Richard Freeman, Gabriel Garrick, Mark Perry (trumpets); Chris Lowe, Martin Gladdish, Natalie Witts (tenor trombones); Ollie King (bass trombone); saxophones: Brandon Allen (tenor), Jamie O’Donnell (alto), Phil Knights (alto), Tom Stone (tenor), Richard Shepherd (baritone). The Music: Too Close For Comfort (v) (Jerry Bock/Lawrence Holofcener/George Weiss, arr. Patrick Williams) : Midnight Sun (v) (J Francis Burke/Johnny Mercer) : Wait And See (v) (Bill Ashton, arr. Paul Higgs) : Return Flight (Tom Stone) : All Of Me (Seymour Simmons, arr. Phil Knights) : A-Tisket, A-Tasket (v) (Van Alexander/Ella Fitzgerald) : You Go To My Head (v) (J Fred Coots/Haven Gillespie) : But Not For Me (George & Ira Gershwin) : That Old Black Magic (v) (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer, arr. Billy May) : Oh Lady Be Good (v) (George & Ira Gershwin) : When Sunny Gets Blue (v) (Marvin Fisher/Jack Segal) : Someone (v) (Bill Ashton, arr. Evan Jolly) : Big P (Jimmy Heath, arr. Henry Armburg-Jennings) : I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (v) (Irving Berlin) : Putney Vale (Tom Stone, arr. Callum Au) : Twos Hughes Blues (Sarah Ellen Hughes) : In The Bleak Mid-Winter (Gustav Holst/Christina Rosetti, arr. Sarah Ellen Hughes) : Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpont, arr. John Clayton jnr./Natalie Cole) The Gig: Winter’s gloom lifted temporarily, both literally and metaphorically, for this eagerly-anticipated session, an unseasonably rare sunny Sunday enticing in from the cold a goodly crowd to witness and enjoy the launch of the Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band, live at The Manor… From the very first number – Too Close For Comfort – a groovily swinging ensemble work-out, it was clear that this gig, and this band, was going to be something special – Sarah Ellen (left) demonstrating from the outset just why she’s deservedly been gathering plaudits for her vocal prowess. A switch in pace saw that beautiful ballad, Midnight Sun, given a rarely heard vocal outing. Sarah Ellen initially pitched the verse and chorus over the sax section and a mass of muted trumpets, while her twin sister, Anna Hughes, provided the front mic flugelhorn intro and counterpoint – Anna then played a plangent double time flugel solo before the concluding vocal. Marvellous stuff! When Sarah Ellen left NYJO almost three years ago Bill Ashton presented her with a number of his vocal charts that she particularly liked. One of these was Wait And See, a gentle bossa nova which started as a vocal/piano duet (Rob Taggart doing the honours on keyboard), then added a flavouring of flute (courtesy of Phil Knights) before the full band joined in – Jamie O’Donnell took the fine alto solo.

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Issue 5 2010 More Notes from The Manor ♫ There were just two fully instrumental numbers in this set: the first, Return Flight, written by second tenor Tom Stone, also has NYJO connections – it had been performed here just two weeks before. After Rob’s piano intro, Mark Perry and Sarah Ellen (on flute) together stated the theme of this medium-paced, Latin-tinged number. Mark and Tom each took a solo and Paul Robinson (right) added some powerful percussive interludes towards the end. The second, Phil’s Basie-esque arrangement of All Of Me, had an extended intro by the rhythm section, some rumbustious ensemble work and featured a lovely solo by Rob over the full band – absolutely cracking! Returning to the vocal mic, Sarah Ellen dusted off the old Ella Fitzgerald number, ATisket, A-Tasket based, she said, on a 19th Century nursery rhyme – so maybe Van Alexander was only responsible for the band’s vocal interjections! Whatever, it was great fun… By contrast, You Go To My Head was a gentle, Latin-flavoured quintet feature for Sarah Ellen, singing initially with the rhythm section and subsequently joined by Martin Gladdish, who also provided the trombone solo and an achingly beautiful descant line to the concluding vocal. The penultimate number of the first set marked another change – Sarah Ellen had arranged But Not For Me as a sprightly vocal duet feature for herself and sister Anna, accompanied by members of the sax section. After Paul’s spirited drum intro, the impressively matched voices of the talented twins swung into the verse and chorus before Phil (left), Jamie, Tom and Richard Shepherd each soloed in turn. Jon Hendricks’s alternate lyrics made an appearance in the middle section, Paul provided a drum break and then the girls alternated fours and duetted all the way to the drum-supported coda. Just wonderful! Which only left That Old Black Magic to weave its spell and send everyone to the bar buzzing with delight at what they’d just heard and in anticipation of delights yet to come… Set two bounded into action with a couple of quintet numbers: after an a capella vocal intro, Oh Lady Be Good saw Brandon Allen (right) joining Sarah Ellen and the rhythm section and providing a lovely tenor counterpoint to the second chorus. Brandon, Rob and Matt Ridley also contributed solos before Sarah Ellen (scatting), Paul and Brandon alternated fours into the coda. Slowing things down, Anna then joined her sister for a vocal duet on When Sunny Gets Blue which, after the piano intro, had a ‘twins and tenor’ interlude before Rob’s extended solo – more vocal duetting over Brandon’s tenor descant brought proceedings to a close. The full band returned for Evan Jolly’s arrangement of Bill Ashton’s Someone, an archetypal big band swinger on which Anna took the lead vocal, being joined later by Sarah Ellen for some duetting – the sax section then had a soli before more vocal duetting over muted trumpets led to the big finish. Jimmy Heath is a somewhat neglected jazz writer but Henry ArmburgJennings’ (left) arrangement of Big P went some way to setting this to rights. Matt’s bass intro over piano and drums gave way to the band before Henry’s extended solo – Richard and Rob each then had solos before the ensemble finish, complete with tremolo saxes… 6

Issue 5 2010 More Notes from The Manor ♫ I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm started with some Latin flavouring before Sarah Ellen’s vocal settled into a swing groove – Phil took the alto solo. Tom then generously offered his own ballad composition, Putney Vale, to Brandon, who grasped the chance of a tenor feature with both hands – Gabriel Garrick and Rob also contributed solos. Back to the duets, but this time with a difference – after Rob’s relaxed intro, Twos Hughes Blues featured the purely instrumental talents of Sarah Ellen and Anna on flute and muted trumpet respectively (right), kicking back on an original which did exactly what the title suggests. Chris Lowe, Gabriel, Richard and Jamie all contributed solos, whilst Matt interjected some appropriate bass fills over the leads’ duet coda. The inevitable Christmas offerings were left until the end, on the basis, Sarah Ellen said: “…that it’s much nearer to Christmas now than it was at 12.30”. In her arrangement of Gustav Holst’s setting of Christina Rosetti’s In The Bleak Mid-Winter, after a rubato chorale introduction the rhythm section settled into a slow rock groove before the sisters singly and then together (left) made the gloomy lyrics glow. Jamie (soprano) and Mark took solos before Sarah Ellen’s scat vocal and another vocal duet chorus preceded the muted trumpet and soprano sax coda – seasonably smashing stuff! Jingle Bells featured in a band’s programme for the second time in seven days – this version though was a sexily swinging arrangement, originally written by John Clayton Jnr. for Natalie Cole, to which Sarah Ellen did full vocal justice. Richard Freeman contributed the obligatory ‘neighing’ trumpet interjections and Brandon added a tremendous tenor solo before Sarah Ellen’s sleigh bells suitably rounded off the concert. For two week’s running there have been unanimous audience accolades for a band appearing at The Manor, and the music it played – the requests again this week were all along the lines of: “You must have this band back!”. With the proviso that we’re able to count on a viable level of audience support for all the bands we host here, we’ll be in a position to continue our promotions and accede to such requests. And if so, the Sarah Ellen Hughes Big Band may well be returning in late spring… SH/IF --ooOoo-Photos  Bill Ashton/Steve Harris

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