It is curious sometimes the serendipity. And I hesitate to relay the following gambit in the next paragraph for fear of projection. It’s only a lead in after all I remind the more sensitive among the readership and very welcome you are too, dearly dishevelled, especially the Lacanians among us.
One of the very untriggerable tracks I have played most this year is one featuring a singer called Mim Grey. It’s a Funkestra cover of a Joni Mitchell song called ‘Night Ride Home’ that’s been around a while that nevertheless took me time to hunt down. Long story short, when I arrived at the Bohemia last night I wasn’t sure who would be in saxophonist Simon Spillett’s band. And it wasn’t as it turned out quite as advertised even when co-promoter Nic Phillips pointed to the list of players on a poster which I hadn’t seen hitherto – as Berkshire bassist Stuart Barker was depping for the listed Jeremy Brown. However, I was delighted that Pete Billington from the aforementioned Grey recording was the pianist for the evening. Listen below to Billington’s Korg playing in the video particularly the unearthly atmosphere underpinned by a certain textured delicately cloaked guitar conjured at the beginning.
But without further going off on a tangent and foreplay over, this was an evening dominated by the music of Tubby Hayes, a subject close to Simon Spillett’s heart both as a player and as a biographer. He is the author of 2015 book The Long Shadow of the Little Giant: The Life, Work and Legacy of Tubby Hayes.
The band was completed on this Remembrance Sunday evening by the pin stripe suit and poppy wearing drummer Pete Cater.
There was blistering heat and uptempo derring-do on the version of Sonny Rollins’ ‘Oleo’ later. But quippeth Spillett: “Rollins didn’t play in Finchley and couldn’t find parking either.”
The evening began with bustling Tubby Hayes number ‘No, I Wouldn’t’. Noted Spillett with quiet irony whose MC style is very much in the vein of the deadpan speaking voice and appealingly lugubrious tones of Ronnie Scott: “We like to start our gigs in a positive frame of mind.” Spillett likes to stamp his foot at regular intervals and throw his head back when in full flow.
It was a fairly early evening performance of two sets punctuated by a break – the gig was over around 10-ish. I liked the version of Benny Golson’s ‘I Remember Clifford’ and as you do hearing such wonders of modern jazz made me think of mercifully being able to hear Golson in the flesh a couple of times – last time when he played wonderfully in Cadogan Hall, in 2019, and many years ago in Wales when I remember the great saxist and composer taking photos from the stage during breaks when he wasn’t playing. I love the Tom Hanks film The Terminal that he is in also.
Stu Barker had the hardest job of the night and earned his fee totally when the band played ‘Oleo’ at some lick. I liked the version of Tubby’s ‘After Tea’ for its gutsiness and passion.
Cater featured heavily on what Spillett referred to as the cryptically entitled ‘Don’t Fall off the Bridge’. The evening also included further versions of tunes from Spillett’s new live-at-the-Pizza album Up in Town entitled ‘Grits, Beans and Greens’ and ‘Souriya’. Cater is also on that recording (the bassist on it is Alec Dankworth and pianist Rob Barron).
The sound volume was adjusted for the second set. There were a few more people in by then so that made sense.
‘Half a Sawbuck’ worked well but best of all on the enjoyment level for me personally was by that other Little Giant, Johnny Griffin and his feelgood tune ‘Sunny Monday.’
Billington was superb on this. Again memories of hearing Griffin came flooding back. He was a favourite of the great jazz writer and Klook and Griffin biographer Mike Hennessey. Mike put on a gig at Foyles book shop featuring Griffin and I went along. Also Griffin played in Brecon back in the 1990s and I was blown away by his balladry even more.
So a lot was packed in and pleasurable too was the quartet’s take on Mumbles’ ‘The Simple Waltz’ measured out in 6/4 time.
