Amazingly
the musicians beat the forces marshalled against them at the open air
National jazz festival at Richmond during the weekend and played some
fine jazz.
On Saturday night the enemy included off key jets
landing at London airport a minor zephyr and a chattering microphone.
They
were conspicuously reinforced by six frenetic african drummers. these
gentlemen took the stage complete with an action painter and a belly
dancer , whose gyrations would not have raised the temperature of any
potentate east of Leyton Orient.
The show, sponsored by the Evening
News and Star was particularly a victory for the bands of humphrey Lyttleton
and Alex Welsh and Pianist Dill Jones.
Lyttletons
music occurs in grand economy mode. Every unnecessary note is pruned
., The skeletal arrangements give plenty of chance for invention.
As
a result the six piece group generated more power than all the electronic
weapons wielded by the succession fo rhythm and blues bands which entertained
the dark glasses and black jacket set in a nearby marquee throughout
the evening .
Power
is also an essential part of the music of Dill Jones , who recently
migrated to New York and is now on holiday here. But there has always
a strong melodic link between his ringing hammer hit phrases and great
rolling chords.
He finished with a finger busting
Little Rock Getaway containing a stride chorus that would have done
justice to the late Fats Waller.The night was blown out by the chris
Barber band with Ottilie Paterson . The performance was slick by any
show business standards . But underneath it all was an air of staleness.
True invention and the Barber band are apparently only remote acquaintances
.
The winners of the amateur contest
held yesterday were Modern Jazz , Minot Jaynes sextet , Mainstream,
Colin Kingswell's Jazz Bandits. They will fly to Zurich next month to
compete in an international contest
