{"id":3648,"date":"2016-06-28T12:04:39","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T12:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/?p=3648"},"modified":"2016-07-01T08:21:25","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T08:21:25","slug":"mardi-gras-jazzband-24th-june-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/?p=3648","title":{"rendered":"Mardi Gras JazzBand, 24th June 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

We had the <\/span>MARDI GRAS JAZZBAND<\/strong><\/span> at FARNBOROUGH JAZZ CLUB (Kent)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>on Friday, 24th<\/sup> June 2016<\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong>\u00a0 They had a couple of changes to their usual line-up,\u00a0giving us\u00a0band leader and trombonist, ROB PEARCE<\/strong>, with<\/span>\u00a0LEIGH HENSON<\/strong> <\/span>on trumpet &vocals, JOHN ELLMER<\/strong> <\/span>on reeds-a-plenty, PAUL HIGGS<\/strong> <\/span>on piano (that\u2019s right, not green trumpet), STEVE SMITH<\/strong> <\/span>on double bass and PAUL BAKER<\/strong> <\/span>on drums.\u00a0 I said it promised to be spectacular, and it was. \u00a0We had a lovely treat, as we also had a couple of guests, one being Pete Smith, who was drummer for Monty Sunshine.\u00a0 Pete is Steve Smith\u2019s father, so they got to play with one-another, when Pete had a couple of sit-ins.\u00a0 The other guest was singer, Barry Vegas, yes he entertained us last time and everyone loved him, he was very professional. \u00a0It was a great pity, because poor Mike, who takes photographs for us, was not with us.\u00a0 He had broken a rib \u2013 quite painful, so no photographs.\u00a0 Luckily, \u2018Brown Ale\u2019 Pete was there and took a couple, because he was \u2018roadie\u2019 with Monty Sunshine, so took a couple of Pete Smith.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the pics didn\u2019t cover all musicians – such a pity, sorry to our two Paul\u2019s.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve and Pete (father and son) were only just captured together in one. \u00a0[If anybody else took photos, please could you send copies to me for publishing here, thanks].<\/p>\n

\"Mardi<\/a>

Mardi Gras JazzBand at Farnborough Jazz Club on Friday, 24th June 2016. (LtoR) John Ellmer (on plenty-of-reeds), just see Steve Smith (double bass), Leigh Henson (trumpet) (Steve’s father has sit-in) Pete Smith (drums), Rob Pearce (trombone). (Missed) Paul Higgs (piano) & Paul Baker (drums). Photo by Peter Marr.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

So here\u2019s how the evening went anyway.\u00a0 Their first two numbers were \u2018Aint Misbehaving\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Darktown Strutters\u2019 Ball\u2019<\/em>, which was sung by Rob, with fabulous solos from the two Pauls, one on piano (what a star) and one on drums (yep, another star).\u00a0 \u2018Dinah\u2019<\/em> is a fun number, sung by Leigh with John (playing tenor sax) singing in harmony.\u00a0 As for \u2018St. James Infirmary\u2019<\/em> I jotted down that John, not only sang, but played brilliant bass clarinet \u2013 I should think quite a hard instrument to play (he obviously has an enormous set of lungs).\u00a0 Fantastic piano from Paul, plus Rob and Leigh wonderful on trombone and trumpet.\u00a0 It is so hard to describe how amazing the evening was to someone who wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0 It is that magic, I often speak of.\u00a0 They were playing their hearts out \u2013 having so much enjoyment themselves.\u00a0\u00a0 Such a lovely bunch of guys, it\u2019s why Keith and I will not give up until hopefully, we \u2018kick the bucket\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"Mardi<\/a>

Mardi Gras JazzBand at Farnborough Jazz Club (Kent) on Friday 24th June 2016. (LtoR) John Ellmer (reeds & saxes), Leigh Henson (trumpet), Pete Smith sits in on drums (Monty Sunshine’s drummer) and band leader Rob Pearce (trombone). Not pictured is Paul Higgs (piano) and Paul Baker (drums) Photo by Peter Marr<\/span>.<\/p><\/div>\n

To continue \u2026 They have to play the next one, \u2018Mardi Gras\u2019<\/em> (John on clarinet this time), with Rob singing.\u00a0\u00a0It is\u00a0so hard for me not to mention all of their numbers, such as \u2018Memphis Blues\u2019<\/em>, especially because I wrote no notes, just remembered it was great.\u00a0 Then they invited Barry over to sing.\u00a0 Oh what a super\u00a0voice he has \u2013 I\u2019m sure he sings at lots of high class night clubs, he\u2019s certainly worth being booked.\u00a0 He sang \u2018Almost Like Being In Love\u2019 <\/em>and yes we were all up dancing too. \u00a0<\/em>Then he sang \u2018Alright, Okay, You Win\u2019, <\/em>plus others.\u00a0 What a great guy he is \u2013 thanks Barry.\u00a0 Their third set had songs such as \u2018If I Had You\u2019<\/em> \u2013 and in the middle, John played the theme song of \u2018007\u2019 and absolutely brilliantly \u2013 not only is that talent, but so full of humour \u2013 don\u2019t you just love it.\u00a0 Paul also \u2018replied\u2019 and played something with the same \u00a0humour, but I missed it! Another great tune they played with ALL<\/strong> of them playing just beautifully \u2013 John on bass clarinet and then clarinet to \u2018Tin Roof Blues\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 Then, \u2018Wang Wang <\/em>Blues\u2019 (a (No.1 hit for six weeks in 1920, selling over 1million copies and winning a gold disc) sent us all on our way, with that Paul Whiteman number \u2018swinging\u2019 in our heads, but not before I had a terrific dance with Keith (with Keith\u2019s legs akimbo and me having a hard time keeping up with him – I think I landed on my feet though! \u00a0Mardi Gras will be back on 30th September. \u00a0See you next week for Mike Barry\u2019s XXL Band.<\/p>\n

Your hosts, Diane and Keith<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Aint Misbehaving\u2019 \u2013 (m) Fats Waller & Harry Brooks, (l) Andy Razaf (1929)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018Almost Like Being In Love\u2019 \u2013 (m) Frederick Loere, (l) Alan Jay Lerner (1955)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018Alright, Okay, You Win\u2019 \u2013 Mayme Watts & Sid Wyche (1955)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018Darktown Strutters\u2019 Ball\u2019 \u2013 Shelton Brooks (1917)<\/em> \u2018Dinah\u2019<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018If I had You\u2019 \u2013 Ted Shapiro, James Campbell & Reg Connelly\u00a0 (1927)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018Mardi Gras (While We Danced)\u2019 \u2013 (m) Alfred M. Opler, (l) Johnny Mercer (1931)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018Memphis Blues\u2019 \u2013 (m) W.C. Handy (1912), (l) George A. Norton (1913)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018St. James Infirmary Blues\u2019 \u2013 American Folk origin (18th<\/sup> century)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018Tin Roof Blues\u2019 \u2013 George Brunies, Paul Mares, Ben Pollack, Leon Roppolo & Mel Stitzel (1923)<\/em><\/h6>\n
\u2018Wang Wang Blues \u2013 Gus Mueller, \u2018Buster\u2019 Johnson & Henry Busse, (l) Leo Wood (1920)<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had the MARDI GRAS JAZZBAND at FARNBOROUGH JAZZ CLUB (Kent)\u00a0on Friday, 24th June 2016.\u00a0 They had a couple of changes to their usual line-up,\u00a0giving us\u00a0band leader and trombonist, ROB PEARCE, with\u00a0LEIGH HENSON on trumpet &vocals, JOHN ELLMER on reeds-a-plenty, PAUL HIGGS on piano (that\u2019s right, not green trumpet), STEVE SMITH on double bass and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mardi-gras-jazzband"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3648"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3684,"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions\/3684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farnboroughjazz.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}