27 October 2024 – Savannah Jazz Band: To help us celebrate the 44th anniversary of Stafford Jazz Society were this well-known Yorkshire-based group consisting of Ray Bowden on drums, Tony Pollitt on bass, Chris Marney on banjo. Richard Church on trumpet, Brian “Sam” Ellis (leader) on trombone and piano and Roger Bird on reeds play great foot-tapping New Orleans jazz with a real bounce and kick to it. They started with ‘Smiles’ and continued with ‘Wabash Blues’, ‘When Your Hair Has Turned Silver’, ‘In The Upper Garden’, ‘My Gal Sal’, ‘In The Evening’, ‘When I Come To The End Of My Journey’ and the first half finished with ‘CC Rider’. The second half opened with ‘Goin’ Back To New Orleans’ and went on with ‘St James Infirmary (plus lyrics to Albert and the Lion – love it)’, ‘Hiawatha Rag’, ‘Yes Yes In Your Eyes’, ‘Bluebells Goodbye’, ‘ The Old Rugged Cross’, ‘You Are My Sunshine’, ‘I Want To Be Happy’ and finishing with ‘Going Home’. What a lovely concert. See you again soon fellas.
20 October 2024 – The Harlem Jazz Orchestra: This 13 piece band of 12 musicians and a vocalist (Sarah Spencer) were very professional and polished. They specialise in authentic jazz classics from the early part of the 20th century (1920s and 1930s). With Bob Hunt, on trombone is the Director, Eric Tomasso on trumpet along with Wil Robinson and Charlie Manning, Graham Woodhouse on trombone, Zoltan Sagi and Richard Exall on reeds, Art Toper on piano, Rachel Hayward on banjo and guitar, Tomas Pedersen on string bass, Nick Ward on percussion and, as mentioned, Sarah Spencer being both announcer and vocalist they just managed to fit on stage. They started with ‘The King Kong Stomp’, ‘The Harlem Romance’, ‘I Never Knew’, ‘Great Party Blues’, ‘That Rhythm Man’, Where The Black Men Blew’, ‘Dinah’, ‘Everybody Hittin’ The Bottle’, ‘Awful Sad’, ‘Feeling the Spirit’, ‘Persian Rug’ and ‘The Downton Camp Meeting’ completed the first half. In the second half were: ‘Harlem Bound’, ‘All Goes’, ‘The Empty Chair’, ‘After You’ve Gone’, ‘Shoe Shine Boy’, ‘When’, ‘Rocking Chair’, ‘Three Little Words’, ‘The Swannee Shuffle’, ‘I’m Regular Crazy Now’ and ‘Swing Out. Great music, great playing and great vocals. Hope to see this group again at some time in the future.
6 October 2024 – Three Bears Jazz Band: This is the first time this band has played at SJS, although their faces are all well known to us. The Band comprises “Lord” Jim Swinnerton (leader) on double bass, John Hallam on reeds, Tom Kincaid on piano, Amy Roberts on reeds and Jack Cotterill on drums. What a fabulous five-some. They opened with ‘Rosetta’ and went on to play ‘When You’re Smiling’, ‘On The Sunny Side Of The Street’, ‘Honeysuckle Rose’, ‘The Teddybears Picnic’ (well what else would they play!), ‘Dr Jazz’, ‘If I Have You’, ‘Lester Leaps In’, ‘I’ve Found A New Baby’, ‘Creole Love Call’, ‘Just A Little While To Stay Here’, ‘Pennies From Heaven’, ‘Water From An Ancient Well’ (don’t you just love that title – and the music was just as beautiful), ‘Out Of Your Way’ and they finished with ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing’. The room sprang to its collective feet in appreciation of a smashing concert. I am sure they will be back again.