Cornetist Andy Schumm was having the time of his life at the 2010 Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival. Not that Andy doesn’t have fun and spread joy wherever he goes — but here he was with a band of players who knew the music intimately, knew the subtle dimensions of the styles by heart. So Andy and his Bixologists were an immense hit, and I caught every session (missing perhaps three songs) and I am very glad of it. The band for this initial meeting on Friday, July 9, was Norman Field on a variety of reeds and amusing scholarly digressions; Paul Munnery on trombone; Jeff Barnhart on piano; Jacob Ullberger on banjo and guitar; Frans Sjostrom, the heroic, on the bass saxophone; Josh Duffee on his minimalist and very swinging drums.
I will not explicate these performances, because they don’t need my pointing out their delights. However, they are so much more than pale recreations of records: they are living creative hot music!
AT THE JAZZ BAND BALL:
LOUISIANA:
AT SUNDOWN:
ROYAL GARDEN BLUES:
I’M MORE THAN SATISFIED:
OH, BABY!:
BIG BOY:
BABY, WON’T YOU PLEASE COME HOME?:
And more to come on the other side . . .
JAZZ LIVES 