Adrian Cox Quintet at Botany Bay Jazz Club.
Sky Murphy, Adrian, Sebastion de Krom, George Trebar (gtr), Nils Solberg

There is a stark dichotomy in jazz today. I’m not referring to the differences between traditional jazz and the extremes of modern jazz – in itself anathema to many – but rather to the ageing old school of bands and fans and a newly emerging generation of
younger bands and fans.

I sense in a minority of older fans and even musicians a begrudging reluctance to accept that the new generation bands are every bit as vivacious and talented as their predecessors. What’s more, they are having to reclaim lost ground and attract a whole new, younger generation of jazz fans. This may require some diversification in the music they play, but in the main they stick not just to the jazz of the 1950s and 60s but also to the origins of New Orleans Revivalist Jazz. They deserve to succeed and they are succeeding.

One such band is the Adrian Cox Quartet

I first met Adrian in 2009 at The Ken Colyer Trust Autumn Jazz Parade in Hemsby, Norfolk, when he was a mere 25 year old stripling. By then he had already been playing clarinet for the best part of a decade with a strong leaning to New Orleans Jazz.

I’ve since met up with him at Hemsby twice more and have taken in his gigs with TJ Johnson at The Crypt, Trafalgar Square. Earlier this year I was privileged to see him playing with The Martyn Brothers Band at The 100 Club where he duetted brilliantly with the great Sammy Rimington on sax and clarinet.

“A Masterful Sax Maestro”

“London’s most charismatic sax player”

A Masterful Clarinet and Sax Maestro

Since launching his Quartet, Adrian has been acclaimed as “a masterful New Orleans style clarinet and sax maestro” and billed as “London’s most charismatic clarinet/sax player.” Watch out too for his “easy jazz vocals”!

Over the years I’ve taken a good many photos of Adrian in action and some of them have found their way onto Google Images via Jazz&Jazz. Last Tuesday, 23rd July, along with my wife Ginny and close friend Brian Smith, aka “Smiffy”, of the Welwyn Garden City Peartree Jazz Club, I was treated to a another brilliant Adrian session at The Botany Bay Jazz Club, Enfield. This was my first opportunity to photograph Adrian with his Quartet, or as it was on the night, Quintet.

Burgundy Street Blues

After the break Adrian played a George Lewis number. Then I wondered if he would dare to tackle that epitome of New Orleans Jazz, George Lewis’s “Burgundy Street Blues”. He did! It was his very next number, performed to hushed silence and followed by rapturous applause.

Thank you, Botany Bay Jazz Club, for allowing us to join you for a wonderful evening of jazz and swing.

You can keep up with Adrian’s Tour Dates at Ents 24.

(Photos © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

Sebastian de Krom

Sky Murphy goes solo!

Sky, Adrian, Sebastion and George.

Sky and Adrian

George Trebar

Nils Solberg

“A high class, high energy mix of Jazz and Swing.”

Play that thing!

Monday, 29th May, friends from Canada paid me a surprise visit. I had planned to get to
The Cafe in The Crypt, Trafalgar Square, for TJ Johnson’s monthly session that evening. But I was pushed for time. Then I remembered Trefor Williams had promised to make a reservation for me in case I was late.

Jazz livens up the sepulchral setting…

… underneath the arches!

Echoes of Preservation Hall

So I set off and as fortune would have it, due to a train delay, I got there in good time. And was I glad! Sitting opposite me were a couple from Sacramento, California. They had been on a River Cruise on the Continent and had decided to take in a London jazz session before returning home. By the end of the evening they were applauding furiously and told me it took them back to an evening they spent at Preservation Hall, New Orleans, last year.

Such is the impact TJ has on jazz fans of all ages. And such is the magical atmosphere The Crypt lends to jazz.

Sky Murphy and Adrian Cox

Roger Myerscough

Tony Pitt

The inimitable TJ

Popular with ‘young trendies’ and older fans alike

In March this year TJ starred at a Royal Festival Hall’s Ignite Brunch. He was introduced as “One of the UK’s most charismatic jazz and blues singers … backed by his group of top London-based musicians. TJ plays an extraordinary blend of music that transcends the boundaries of jazz, blues, soul, country and gospel and is influenced by some of the greats such as Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash.”

Trefor “Fingers” Williams

This from TJ’s own blog: “TJ’s style and mix of music seems to be very popular with the young trendy in crowd and older jazz and blues fans alike.” Maybe not so self-effacing but as the mix of fans at The Crypt last week demonstrated, it stands up to scrutiny.

Peter M Butler
Editor and Owner, Jazz&Jazz 

Bass, trombone, saxophones

“So what’s it to be?”

Adrian raises the tempo.

Lindy hop?

Photos © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz

Colin Kingwell’s Jazz Bandits at The Peartree

Google Colin Kingwell’s Jazz Bandits and you will find a plethora of coverage. But Colin needs to do little to promote his band these days. The personnel may have changed over the years but as one jazz writer put it when describing Colin as a classic stylist, “all the true blue jazz fans from the 50s know who Colin is”.

Trombone Maestro

The Bandits have starred since 1956 and in the intervening years have toured Denmark, Holland, Sweden, France, Switzerland and the USA.

Spellbound

So having revelled in their top of the bill Grande Finale at Ramsgate Seaside Shuffle last year, I was delighted when Smiffy booked The Bandits for the Peartree Jazz Club’s gig on Monday, 20th May. They held the audience spellbound with their range of New Orleans originals in their very own smooth, laid back style. But that’s not to say they didn’t mix it a bit and turn up the heat when the mood took them!

Dave Fawcett

It was a just great to see Peartree fans enjoying the jazz and tapping their feet to Colin on trombone; Peter Brooks on bass; John Lawrence on trumpet; Dave Fawcett on banjo; Malc Murphy, drums and vocals and masterful as ever; and John Lawes on clarinet and vocals.

As Smiffy announced at the end of the session, Bandits, you will be invited back to Welwyn Garden City!

Malc Murphy

(Photos © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

John Lawrence

Peter Brooks

John Lawes

The DUKES on stage at the Jazz and Heritage Festival

The Dukes of Dixieland starred at their 39th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Friday, 5th April.

Paul Thibodeaux

It was a glorious Spring day for revelling in swinging New Orleans Jazz and the DUKES didn’t disappoint. They performed on an amazing set, playing hits from their latest album “Celebrating Satchmo” that really got the crowd jumping out of their seats.

L to R: Alan Broome, Ryan Burrage and Kevin Clarke.

New Orleans Jazz Legend, Lionel Ferbos joined the fans during the DUKES set.

Lionel is New Orleans’ Oldest active trumpeter at age 101, playing weekly gigs with the Palm Court Jazz Band at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe. He has performed at every single Jazz and Heritage Festival to date.

Lionel Ferbos with DUKES leader Kevin Clarke (Photo: Jim Moriarty, 2013)

View more great photos of The DUKES at The Jazz and Heritage Festival

The Dukes of Dixieland Evoke Memories of New Orleans, 2010

Jazz Portrait of Lionel Ferbos, Louisiana Jazz Legend

The Jubilee Jazz Band

“The coastal jewel of Jávea is bookended by rocky headlands and is a prime example of old world meets modern energy. The “old town” district is filled with remains of walls built to keep out pirates, as well as a 14th-century church. Visit the beautiful white-sand Arenal beach, brimming with shops, restaurants and, in the summer, hopping beachside bars and nightclubs.” (tripadviser.co.uk)

Sounds idyllic as does the authentic six-piece vintage Jubilee Jazz Band which hails from Jávea and has been introduced to Jazz&Jazz by their trumpet player and webmaster,
Mike Summers.

Jubilee play “a lot of the early New Orleans & Chicago repertoire (1910-1930) including marches, blues and rags, but also plays some slightly later jazz too, including songs by George Gerschwin, Walter Donaldson, Fats Waller and Duke Ellington.”

So Jávea may be the ideal location for jazz fans planning a trip to Spain. You can explore The Jubilee Band’s website to meet the band and discover where and when they are playing in Jávea and nearby Pedreguer.

Facebook can be very ephemeral. Subjects raised one day are soon downgraded by the welter of information flooding in not just by the minute but by the second. So to keep issues in the public eye, or rather in Jazzers’ eyes, from time to time I post issues and debates on this site and then recycle them periodically on Facebook.

This is one of those issues.

I got back into jazz a few years ago. I say back into, because ‘in the beginning’ I got into jazz with a group of chums following the trend. Then in 2008 my oldest chum said he and his wife had got back into jazz and that my wife and I should join them at The Hemsby Autumn Jazz Parade. So we did and this time I began to take jazz seriously and came to realise its tragic decline.

Then in 2009 Ginny won the Ken Collyer Trust Prize Draw for a fantastic trip to New Orleans for the 2010 French Quarter Festival. By that time I had made numerous contacts through my jazz portraits and now there was no going back.

So I launched www.jazzandjazz.com, then joined Facebook and launched my Facebook Jazzers Group – all aimed at raising the profile of jazz for jazz bands, musicians and fans. Numerous debates ensued on Jazzers about the plight of jazz, ageing fans, weary jazz clubs AND the lack of younger bands, musicians and fans. Not only that but the decline of jazz in New Orleans itself.

So to the heart of the matter! There are younger bands out there – in the USA, UK and around the world. And right now, to demonstrate what this article is all about I want to feature just one of these bands, Tuba Skinny, recently introduced to me by Jazzers Group Member Edward Lloyd-Hughes.

Tuba Skinny bring New Orleans to Sydney Australia

Their website, http://tubaskinny.bandcamp.com, says it all and is music to the ears:

“Formed in in 2009, Tuba Skinny has steadily evolved from a loose collection of street musicians into a solid ensemble dedicated to bringing the traditional New Orleans sound to audiences around the world. Drawing on a wide range of musical influences—from spirituals to Depression-era blues, from ragtime to traditional jazz—their sound evokes the rich musical heritage of their New Orleans home. The band has gained a loyal following through their distinctive sound, their commitment to reviving long-lost songs, and their barnstorming live performances.”

You can listen to their jazz on youtube and here are just two links:

Live set, ABC National Radio, Sydney, Australia: http://youtu.be/ffXQ6qH3gwU

Tuba Skinny with Erika Lewis on vocals performing at Louisiana Busker Fest in Abita Springs, La 22.4.2013: http://youtu.be/hTainjvzeoI

So just a few stills courtesy of ABC, Australia. The names of the musicians are announced during the video.

 

Tuba Skinny is just one of a number of new US bands who, along with UK bands and musicians such as The Bennett Brothers, The Martin Brothers, The Adrian Cox Quartet, Dom Pipkin & The Ikos, The Brownfield Byrne Quintet, Jonny Boston and Amy Roberts bely fears that, as one punter put it on Linkedin “jazz music is going to die soon”. There is no lack of talented bands and musicians.

Reading Sammy Rimington’s book “A Life in Pictures” it strikes me that back in his early days things were much the same as today. He had to make his own way on the jazz scene along with other up and coming bands. What’s more, back then they had to push promotion and win gigs for themselves without the aid of the internet. Neither was there a Jazz Guide in those days.

I’ve rerun a series of Jazzers Debates on these issues on Jazz&Jazz, under: https://www.jazzandjazz.com/category/jazz-world-interviews/ . I’ve also written a feature on the site “Analysing The Jazz Scene – Past, Present and Future”.

So older bands, clubs and fans shouldn’t bemoan the plight of jazz. We should lift our heads above the parapet to see whats happening out there and somehow get in on the act with a new lease of jazz life. We shouldn’t just fade away. We should re-involve ourselves and join in with and support a whole new generation of Jazzers, then they might be more inclined to join in with us.

Long Live New Orleans Revivalist Jazz!

Courtesy of Fred Burnett and Jazz North West, 
Jazz&Jazz is pleased to present

The Magnificent Seven Jazz Band

Newly formed this year by a nucleus of musicians from the Chris Barber, Kenny Ball and Acker Bilk Bands, The Magnificent Seven Jazz Band is currently taking bookings for 2013/14 via Amy Roberts or Richard Exall. You can see more details at http://jazznorthwest.co.uk/magnif7.htm.