Review – Lichfield Jazz and Blues Festival
Friday 24th June 2011, 11:06AM BST.
Lichfield Jazz and Blues Festival
By John Watson
The Lichfield Real Ale, Jazz and Blues Festival got off to an exciting start with a sizzling night of big band sounds.
The four-day festival, being held in a marquee in the grounds of the city’s Rugby Club, opened last night with a special concert featuring the critically-acclaimed Walsall Jazz Orchestra, directed by John Hughes, and the very promising Lichfield and Rugeley Jazz Orchestra.
The Walsall big band is always a joy to hear. Its players are remarkably versatile, and proved themselves to be equally at home in complex contemporary compositions, including saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s Children Of The Night, and pop hits such as the Roberta Flack hit Where Is The Love? This last number featured two of the band’s strongest soloists, alto saxophonist Annie Tinsley and tenor saxophonist Sam Rogers.
The band boasts some very fine trumpet soloists, too, with Lichfield’s own Nick Dewhurst in fiery form and Ray Butcher on the classic tune Well You Needn’t.
The Lichfield and Rugeley Jazz Orchestra, featuring some talented music students, were impressive in the Theme from The Incredibles, a demanding arrangement with which they coped admirably.
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