THE BLACK ROCK JAZZ BAND

What an introduction to 2006! The first gig of the year is normally poorly attended with folks getting over Christmas and although the audience was not large, many turned out to see the BJC debut of the band from the far west of Cornwall, The Black Rock Jazz Band. Those who did attend were most pleasantly surprised as the band put out some fine New Orleans jazz and blues.

            The brollies were out from the first number which was the old standard Bourbon Street Parade. The band was quite amazed at this and pleased at the response that their music elicited from the audience. Next came the Spencer & Clarence Williams number Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None Of This Jelly Roll (just as well none of the original lyrics were sung to assail the ears!). This was followed by Just A Little While To Stay Here and a number from the mists of time At A Georgia Camp Meeting. Jerry Tilley used to play lead guitar with Bill Haley & His Comets and he picked up his guitar for the next number, a 1929 Duke Ellington/Barney Bigard composition Saratoga Swing. His guitar work was excellent during an extended solo break. George Wearing supplied the vocal on the next piece also from 1929, I Get The Blues When It Rains, and the old Jelly Roll Morton classic Milenburg Joys followed that. (It’s correct name was Milneburg, named after a suburb of New Orleans on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain which in turn was named after New Orleans first millionaire, Scotsman Alexander Milne who died in his nineties giving all his money to charity). Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’ was the penultimate number of the first set before it was closed out with WC Handy’s Careless Love.

The second set started off lively enough with King Oliver's Doctor Jazz and Washington and Lee Swing, but then the band played a series of slow blues numbers which were excellent although there were a few complaints from those who wanted a bit more "bounce" to dance to. The first of these slow ones was Hoagy Carmichael's Georgia On My Mind and George supplied the vocal once more. Then came the old Curse Of An Achin' Heart. St James Infirmary is a classic blues number (named after an old hospice in London which was nicked by Henry VIII and turned into St James' Palace) and was played in superb style with a vocal by trumpeter Alan Royle. The lyrics were a bit different to what I have heard previously, but enjoyable nevertheless. Another Fats Waller number came next with Blue Turning Grey Over You followed by the Armstrong/Oliver classic Canal Street Blues and Thomas A Dorsey's 1932 spiritual Precious Lord which closed out set two.

            Many thought that set three was going the way of set two when the band struck up with A Closer Walk With Thee in a slow tempo, but the band changed pace halfway through and turned it into a real swinging number a la Bunk Johnson style. When You're smiling continued in the same vein and an up-tempo version of WC Handy's Beale Street Blues. George sang again on When You and I Were Young Maggie before bassist Zena Smith gave a smooth rendition singing Pennies From Heaven. Next up was the Jimmy McHugh/Dorothy Fields classic I Can't Give You Anything But Love Baby before trombonist Kevin Dower gave his vocal chords an airing with The Sheik Of Araby. All Of Me was meant to be the final number of the evening but due to audience response the band played one more number, Shelton Brooks immortal 1917 piece The Darktown Strutters Ball.

            The band was given a terrific ovation at the end of proceedings and I think they got as much enjoyment from the evening as the audience did. They are a great group of musicians who know how to entertain and no doubt we at the Bude Jazz Club will be finding that The Black Rock Jazz Band will be wending their way up the A39 again in the not too distant future.

            See you around the gigs,

                                                                                    Paul