The British Jazz Tea Party

[A Lark Ascending]

Jazz in the UK - like jazz everywhere else - has gone through several phases. It's hard to itemise these - there are always musicians who straddle the phases (Stan Tracey for example); there are always musicians who play completely different music to what most are playing in a particular phases; and there's plenty of scope to argue over what the phases actually are!

But working off my interpretation of when UK jazz hit particular points of popularity or activity I'd suggest the following:

1. The Dance Band Days - i.e pre-50s

2. The Bebop influenced period when the likes of Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott first appeared.

(Apologies for oversimplifying the first 30 years but I'm not very familiar with those times)

3. The Trad Boom - late 50s/early 60s when jazz almost became pop music again, though in a very restricted, Dixielan imitation. The huge impact of this time can be seen at any UK Flower Show or County Fair where you're bound to get a 'Jazz Band' playing "And When the Saints..."

4. The 60s crossover period - Mike Garrick, Ian Carr, John Surman, Mike Westbrook heading for a more personal style of UK jazz, less dependent on the US model; also the period when the free improv scene took off - John Stevens et al.

5. Late 60s/70s - a period where both free jazz and fusion kicked in; and the point where the music of the Blue Notes (mentioned in SEK's post - they're influence was huge) really started to colour much of the newer music. What I like to think of as the 'Ogun' era (and when I got interested) - Keith Tippett, Harry Miller, Mike Osborne etc.

6. The mid-80s - jazz briefly became trendy again and people like Courtney Pine, Andy Sheppard, The Jazz Warriors, Loose Tubes had their moment in the sun (the latter two groups have spawned much of the front rank of the contemporary UK scene).

7. The 90s until now - In my view UK jazz went through a bit of a trough in the 90s. Lots of great musicians but few chances to record and a tendency for the scene to be dominated by musicians from the earlier eras working within their comfort zones (Andy Shepherd, Tommy Smith, Guy Barker - all excellent musicians who've done much for the music; but...).

However, something is stirring! I read alot about a collective in London called 'Fire' who are producing all manner of groups (several to be showcased at the Cheltenham Festival in May); and musicians from the ethnic communities like Nikki Yeoh and Jason Yarde are doing interesting things. There's also something of a Scottish Renaissance with the likes of Trio AAB (mentioned above) and Brian Kellock. An exciting time.

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I post this simply because most of the posts so far dwell on UK jazz in the past. It's still very much a vibrant scene. The Tea Party goes on!

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The posts unwittingly suggest Westbrook as a musician whose first three recordings mark his most significant work. Far from it - he's still very active today with a major piece premiered last year.

To my mind the heart of Westbrook's music lies in the 70s and 80s - 'Metropolis', 'Citadel Room 615', 'Goose Sauce', 'The Westbrook Blake' and, above all, 'The Cortege.' I find the latter to be the most successful extended jazz recording I've heard (from any country!). Now there's a claim!

[Ed S]

Hey Bev. Welcome

Nice to see you've made it over here.

I always enjoyed reading your posts over at BN.

[A Lark Ascending]

Thanks Ed.

I finally got around to looking here and like the calm discussion on this thread. The UK thread on AAJ seems to have been taken over by the ghost of Mezz Mezzrow!

[Rooster_Ties]

Hi Bev. Also glad to see you again.

I'm kinda lurking on AAJ, but feel right at home here.

[Late]

Up from the depths. It appears that some reissues from Decca/Vocalion (UK) have just made it Stateside, this one among them ...

Has Ronnie Ross, Don Rendell, and Joe Harriott along for the ride.

Anyone heard it? Another two-fer has Michael Gibbs work from '69-'71.

[sidewinder]

The Tony Kinsey CD is at on the shelf at my local CD store and I'll probably pick it up in the next week or so. Looks nice - that 'Jazz at the Flamingo' EP was pretty rare on vinyl.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Another great British player not mentioned here is Peter King, the altoist. He's played with Bud Powell, and was a regular with Kenny Clarke. When they reburied Charlie Parker, I believe Chan called him for the gig. An awesome player.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Also, Tina May is a good singer who, I believe, has recently collaborated with Ray Bryant.

[tooter]

Has Ronnie Ross, Don Rendell, and Joe Harriott along for the ride.

Anyone heard it?

It is nice to see Ronnie Ross mentioned by somebody else. I have had the Flamingo CD for a while now. I'd say it's good but then I'm prejudiced.

One of my favourite UK players is Shake Keane, who died not long ago unfortunately. Don't seem to hear very much of him and the little I've got does not seem to do him justice always. Does anyone have "October Woman" by Michael Garrick with Shake and Joe Harriott? I am sure it must be good. A quick look showed a copy for £120.

[sidewinder]

Tooter - I don't have 'October Woman' by Garrick but I do have a vinyl of 'Black Marigolds'. That one is pretty damn nice and has Harriott in the lineup. Poetry on a couple of the tracks (which works pretty well).

I've also got a (pretty commercial) LP by Shake Keane called 'Dig !'. Lots of covers of stuff like 'Bend Me Shake Me' from the 1960s. A real period piece, time capsule and sort of different (to say the least) from his earlier stuff with Harriott. A great flugel player !

[garthsj]

There has been a revival in interest in the history of modern jazz in Britain. I lived in London in 1958-1960, and going to the Flamingo on a Friday and Saturday night was one of my great joys, and took about a third of my paltry salary at the time ... but to hear live jazz of this calibre was worth every penny. Here are some recent sets that are very useful historical compilations of rare material. Each is a 4-CD (in two, 2-CD volumes) set.

[garthsj]

... and this is a wonderful 3-CD boxed set compiled by Steve Voce of more swing oriented British jazz originally on the Nixa Label. Much of this features the wonderful trumpet work of Kenny Baker, but there is also material by Don Rendell, Joe Harriott, and Kenny Graham, among many others. (I am particularly fond of the clarinet work of Vic Ash).

Edited December 10, 2004 by garthsj

[tooter]

Tooter - I don't have 'October Woman' by Garrick but I do have a vinyl of 'Black Marigolds'. That one is pretty damn nice and has Harriott in the lineup. Poetry on a couple of the tracks (which works pretty well).

I've also got a (pretty commercial) LP by Shake Keane called 'Dig !'. Lots of covers of stuff like 'Bend Me Shake Me' from the 1960s. A real period piece, time capsule and sort of different (to say the least) from his earlier stuff with Harriott. A great flugel player !

Sidewinder - "Black Marigolds" sounds good, although I am not keen on poetry, philistine that I am. Shake leant heavily that way, I know - hence the name - and latterly went away from the music completely I seem to remember, in favour of poetry. But it is his music, particularly as you say on flugel, that interests me. I will keep an eye open for a bargain "October Woman" - some hopes! jazzscript has a list of Garrick LP's.

[A Lark Ascending]

Expect UK jazz to get a big boost in the new year. Around February a TV three part series is due to be screened tracing the roots of UK jazz - 'Jazz Britannia'.

There's also a two night celebration at the Barbican in Feb to tie in. I have my tickets!

12th Feb

Two day of fast and furious live events – also filmed for BBC4 – will reflect and respond to the series. Expect many of the great figures in British jazz to perform across a weekend that delves into the great music of past and present years and takes a leap into the future.

On Saturday, Gilles Peterson hosts a live realisation of Impressed, his hugely successful CD compilation of key tracks in celebration of a progressive and massively influential 60s school of British jazz soloists and composers who rewrote the jazz rule book. No longer content with simply copying American role models, this is a generation that took jazz into new territory and created a distinctively English sound. Impressed/remixed includes a specially assembled big band and small group performances that not only evoke past glories, but also mark the continuing originality of the key players. The line up features the technical sorcery of Matthew Herbert and visuals team Yeast, key figures such as Harry Beckett, Michael Garrick, Stan Tracey, Bobby Wellins, Norma Winstone and compositions from many of the above plus Neil Ardley and the legendary Mike Taylor.

13th Feb

On Sunday, Courtney Pine hosts a journey through the myriad communities and influences that have shaped British jazz as we know it today delving into the cultures of the Caribbean, Africa and India as well as the folk traditions of Britain to name but a few. Artists include Jazz Jamaica – Gary Crosby’s irrepressible fusion of ska, reggae and jazz; the great South African drummer Louis Moholo, last survivor of the famed Blue Notes, whose heady mix of township music and free impro had such a lasting and profound impact; Soweto Kinch and Byron Wallen re-visiting the music of the extraordinary Joe Harriott; and Andy Sheppard, whose music over the years has embraced collaborations with artists from South America, Africa and the Far East

Another batch of 'Impressed Repressed' discs are due early in the new year too.

[Chrome]

Charlie Watts' Live at Fulham Hall features some of the players mentioned here in a big-band setting with a lot of energy.

People who haven't heard it shouldn't put this off as some kind of vanity project, it's good music.

[Late]

Another batch of 'Impressed Repressed' discs are due early in the new year too.

Do you know which ones, Bev?

[A Lark Ascending]

The last thing I heard the following were being considered for Feb/March:

Joe Harriott/Amancio D'Silva - Hum Dono

Neil Ardley- A Symphony of Amaranths

Michael Garrick - Heart is a Lotus

New Jazz Orchestra - Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe

Mike Taylor - Pendulum

I can vouch for the Ardley and the New Jazz Orchestra discs as being excellent. The other three I don't know.

[sidewinder]

Wonderfull. 'Dejeuner' by the NJO (very much an Ardley disk) is wonderful and has a standout version of 'Naima'. Also great to see the other Ardley disk listed too. All of these look like 'must buys.'

That Peterson concert event to be filmed by BBC4 looks pretty well unmissable. With the Kenny Wheeler '75th Birthday' concerts coming up in January, this is going to be a great few months for fans of British Jazz.

Still no sign of Wheeler's 'Windmill Tilter' on the CD format though..

Edited December 11, 2004 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

Tooter - I don't have 'October Woman' by Garrick but I do have a vinyl of 'Black Marigolds'. That one is pretty damn nice and has Harriott in the lineup. Poetry on a couple of the tracks (which works pretty well).

I've also got a (pretty commercial) LP by Shake Keane called 'Dig !'. Lots of covers of stuff like 'Bend Me Shake Me' from the 1960s. A real period piece, time capsule and sort of different (to say the least) from his earlier stuff with Harriott. A great flugel player !

Sidewinder - "Black Marigolds" sounds good, although I am not keen on poetry, philistine that I am. Shake leant heavily that way, I know - hence the name - and latterly went away from the music completely I seem to remember, in favour of poetry. But it is his music, particularly as you say on flugel, that interests me. I will keep an eye open for a bargain "October Woman" - some hopes! jazzscript has a list of Garrick LP's.

It works on this one Tooter. The poetry is kept 'in check' by the jazz and used more as a 'mood' vehicle. Shake participated of course with Harriott in many of the 'Jazz & Poetry' events of the 1960s and, as you say, he had a very definite literary talent in his own right. Too bad that he left the UK back in the 60s. I believe that lack of work at the time was a key issue and the German radio bands offered considerably more stability. Also a marriage bust-up may well have been a factor.

[A Lark Ascending]

With the Kenny Wheeler '75th Birthday' concerts coming up in January

Yes, I'm speeding off to that one too...in Manchester in my case.

The BBC Radio 3 Jazz Legends programme did Tony Coe yesterday. I only heard the first half driving home from work. Am about to listen to part two.

A part of Windmill Tilter was played early on in the programme.

There was also a track from Coe's 'Zeitgeist', a major 70s work that hasn't been around since then. One I'd like to see return.

Can be heard online until Friday, 17/12/04:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazzlegends/index.shtml