The second half of 2011 has come and gone in a frenzy of gigs. We know we should be grateful and we are, but we do get tired…
In July Willingham and Neednham Market gave us their usual East Anglian welcome. The Line Dancers atNeedham were terrific, the only disappointed musicians were those who had been expecting Pole Dancers. A Shropshire “double” – the Harp followed by Shrewsbury Jazz Club – was then followed by a heatwave tour of the south, Bracklesham Bay up to London, by way of the Epsom Playhouse where a lady in the audience composed a poem based on that evening’s repertoire! Another great evening at Shipston-on-Stour in front of that much autographed backcloth; then back down to Sinah Warren, to a happy co-habitation with Pete Lay and the Gambit boys.
Our usual round of weekly gigs kept us very busy, and were occasionally embellished with deps on the double-bass. Many thanks to Annie, Trefor and Tony Bagot. Trefor’s Tales of the Chris Barber band were not to be forgotten!! but about his groaner-jokes, the least said the better!
Finally, the November Tours. They took us on a survey of Britain, really!! you watched the rocks change colour from Bath stone at Bradford-on-Avon to Cornish granite at Bude, the accents evolving from Penzance and Bude to Southport, Carlisle and Edinburgh. It’s a great privilege, really!! In Hampshire Brian found a golf course at Burley and was able to verify whether or not a New Forest pony constituted a immovable hazard. We also went and listened to Tony Robinson & his Chicagoans at Ringwood renewing friendships with Tony and Barbara. Tony a midlands powerhouse trumpet of years ago and still splendid. At Gosport we contemplated Britain’s first Ironclad warship the Valiant then onto Penzance where we regaled by mein host at the Union Hotel with ghost stories. Of to the Smugglers for Sunday lunch then Bude Jazz Club for the evening. Leeds and the Shrimper and onto Carlislewhere we were actually accused of being – and I quote, “good looking!” Edinburgh was in full swing with Big Wheel and German Food Fair and our good friends at Herriots F P.onto Roa Island, despite the onshore gale, was a gastronomic delight. And our search for 11.00 o’clock breakfasts took us to all kinds of unimaginable cafés, always impressively staffed. Finally to another PEK sound recording for our next CD – our fourth with the extraordinary Peter King. So, amid all the bad news, we held on to the essential, it’s a great life – if you don’t weaken!
See you wherever in 2012
TRAVELLING BLUES Sleeve Notes
This is the fourth collaboration between the Millennium Eagle Jazz Band and Peter Kings, sound engineer extraordinaire. As ever it was done in a big hall with a big crowd, in an attempt to give the atmosphere of a live performance rather than studio sound. In the two years since the last CD what developments have there been?
Well, you can chart the band’s traveling progress from our Newsletters ( meagle.co.uk) The CD’s title seems more than appropriate for a group who get from Scotland to the Isle of Wight 2 or 3 times a year. But the friendships you make, and the variety of landscape and accents, more than make up for the fatigue. And the band’s collective Hippocampus – the area of the brain where you store your knowledge of good breakfast bars – must be second only to Chris Barber’s!
As for the music, we hope it still pleases. The front line cohesion meets its best challenge in the a cappella section of “Goodnight Sweet Prince;” but it is the weave of the whole ensemble which is the acid test. Polyphonic music has to have players who dovetail. Rhythm sections have to give lilt and lift. We like to think we can “honour” jazz compositions anywhere between Jelly Roll Morton and Irving Berlin, hovering somewhere between a 2-beat rhythm and something a bit looser.
Individual prowess may be judged in the feature items. There is Matt’s enviable fluency in “St. Philip Street”; Jack’s speed of hand in “Hawaiian War Chant”. “Kansas City Man Blues” highlights the Bechet side of Matt, both as student of the early Bechet bands and as an exponent of the soprano sax. Later he has to be Alphonse Picou in “High Society”, Omer Simeon in the two Jelly Roll Morton adaptations, and play with a Gallic accent in “Le Marchand de Poissons!” Brian’s double-bass is, as ever, the indispensable cornerstone. Peter and Chris air their lungs in “Hi Lily” and “Good Ol’ Wagon” respectively: it’s hard to know whether Peter has more trouble imitating Alma Cogan than Chris does with Bessie Smith!
Despite all the travelling, the title track is not bluesy at all. Rather, it reflects our joie de jouer. We hope you like the music
SEE THE GIG LIST!!!! |
