JRR Xmas Prog

[Tenor Freak]

Aha! I've noticed "Blue Christmas" tucked in there amidst all the other stuff. Excellent; Wayne's solo there always shines through. But Philip Larkin? Feh. At least Sonny and Dex are on hand. Merry Christmas!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

[grippie]

Have a good one with plenty of cheeeeeeeeeeeeers

[Ian Thumwood]

I expect that Trevor probably had to be restrained within his straight jacket during the BBC 2 concert on Christmas Day whereby a big band plus strings and woodwinds under the baton of the faintly ridicuous John Wilson served up a cold dinner of "Swing." The TV supplement suggested a concert with saxophonist and singer Curtis Stigers plus big band but what we had was a mishmash of Sinatrainali and Bubleonia complimented by some extremely wooden "swing " charts by the likes of (I think) Skip Martin and Jerry Gray. The whole horror show was hosted by BBC TV's resident "jazz expert" / "professional Yorkshireman", Micahel Parkinson. In summary, it was a write off even before it began.

Wilson cuts a bizarre figure. During the interviews, he professed a deep appreciation of big band swing and stated how he grew up being interested in this music through listening to the late Alan Dell's programmes on Radio 2. I have a degree of sympathy with this as I broadly acquired my interest between the ages of 13-16 through exactly the same route. However, I used to continue to listen to Humphrey Lyttelton's programme afterwards where it was possible to hear even more big band music albveit the "real" swing msic of the likes of Basie, Henderson, Hampton, Ellington, etc, etc. Within a few years I had learned that much of the music that Alan Dell specialised in playing (and so beloved by John Wilson) was "wrong" insofar that it lacked the jazz ingredient so necessary to make this kind of music work. So much of the instrumental material performed by the white orchestras and then perpertuated throughout the 1950's in Capitol's studios in California during the 1950's was little more than simple call and response riffs. Few of these bands seemed to be able to craft something a majesterial as Ellington's "Harlem Airshaft" from such material. The single most obvious thing lacking from the Wilson band's performance was the lack of swing. In fact, the time keeping was often poor (I don't know about shooting the pianist, but someone should have taken the AKA 47 to the drummer!!) and the whole band had a lumpy sound as if merely going through the parts. On a rendition of Artie Shaw's "Lady be good", the call and response riff totally lacked the verve and excitment of the original . It was as if this was a symphony orchestra trying to play swing. Nelson Riddle's charts for Sinatra were always vibrant and snappy and the absense in verve of Wilson's attempts in the same oeuvre were lamentable.

Some of the soloists were ok but I am constantly surprised why John Wilson gets taken so serious. Fair enough, he is reasonably young and somewhat odd to show enthusaism for the music of 60 years ago in an analytical manner. Granted that Rod Stewart and Robbie Williams have all trodden a similar path, but none seems to have acquired the gravitas of Mr. Wilson. His band is genuinely rank and the music he produces is a travesty. I was staggered that Parky was so enthusiastic when the results were demonstrably dreadful. There are thousands of bands that are better than this. Only in this country could something so wretched be so lauded.

Did anyone else watch this programme?

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

They did NOT play Sonny playing "Winter Wonderland" ~ requested by me "for the R3 revolutionary Jass Messagebored in exile" (shame)...

Is this a SICK Stalinist attempt to remove us from BBC history?
Too many ropey old Christmas waxings (although Dex was cool")?
Will Nick Clegg intervene in a progessive manner?
OR, do we have to riot with the Decemberist student yoof?

OK, itza a riot.

Best for 2011. Just love Mozart's sub catalogue B. sides for the next month. BBC, what's not to hike.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

and a best for 2011 to you too El Senor Blues

a riot is a spectacle orchestrated by the police and news international innit ..... or Roger Wright and the Torygraphic

[Ian Thumwood]

Shame that the jazz programme this weekend have been shunted out of the way to allow for the Mozart festival. This seems a bit mean spirited as there will be blanket coverage of Mozart with no concessions for other types of music.