New Orleans Jazz Band

Another great atmosphere greeted the arrival of the New Orleans jazz band, great exponents of the New Orleans musical heritage.

The land of dreams with reedsman Barry Aldis guesting in the absence of the holidaying John Brunton. Trumpeter supreme Arthur Stead led his band through a selection of many rarely played numbers of melodic excellence only aired by musicians steeped in the N'Orleans genre.

From the borders of North East Lancashire and West Yorkshire i.e. Colne/Keighley, the imposing figure on trombone alderman Jack Moore has a gentle style which is pure New Orleans. He has been mayor of  Trawden so many times even the local sheep queue up to vote. Playing a major role blending the rhythm is Ron Payton on banjo, unobtrusive in the background but very integral in most of the tunes.

Off to a stomping start, some popular vocals found Stead’s slow and sweet “Old Fashioned Love” drummer Dave Stanley’s “One Sweet Letter From You” and Moore’s “Just Forget” featuring mini solos for trumpet and clarinet ‘Gracie’ emerged with “Isle of Capri” and a front line “Rip ‘Em up Joe” raised the tempo.

“New Orleans Hopscotch Blues” I certainly cannot remember, but an excellent presentation building to a bluesy crescendo with all the band inputting to perfection, led to the interval number with the voices at full throttle in “Aint Going To Study War No More” with a frontline finish.

Stead set off the second offering with a powerful trumpet lead in a fine arrangement of “Climax Rag”, and then a solo with “Franklin Street Blues” not often heard. The jokey Louis Jourdan’s “Chicken” found Stead again on vocal before Moore pleaded “When I Grow Too Old To Dream”, “Clarinet Marmalade” is always popular, and Stanley’s rendition of “Ami Blue” had some superb solo sax and muted trumpet, before mini clarinet and trumpet accompanied Stead’s vocal “Don’t Shout Aloha When I Go”, a Fred Waring’s thirties number dedicated to the sign above Debbie’s Bar.

Into the last lap with “Bogalusa Strutt” Moore’s vocal  and trombone asked “Why Should I Cry Over You”. You could tell home time was calling when the band played “Brahms Cradle Song”.

Another of the rarely played “Thomas’ Boogie Woogie” had the place jumping with Aldis on driving sax, and Payton’s banjo with the rhythmic drumming of Stanley and the gentle ‘picking’ of bass player Pete Vickers giving that essential feel.

Stead led out on vocal with “On The Train To Home Sweet Home” and another evening of musical magnificence was put to bed.