... James is all Miked up There is not much guaranteed for Blackpool next summer, but Tower boss Mark Osborne has been quick in inviting back the Mike James Sound and Singers for a second successive season.. James lives in Stockport but was originally from Stalybridge, Cheshire, where his musical career began with him playing the piano in a trio. His first professional engagement above the ...

... Earlier this century, band players were expected to perform under restricted and testing conditions, as Sheila Tracy discovers I wonder what today's musicians would say if, on joining a band, they discovered there were no music stands and they had to play from memory? Shock, horror, impossible! That was what was expected of 18-year-old Billy Munn when I he joined Jack Hylton's band on piano ...

... Swingin' with the giants Spot Ray Gelato fronting his Giants or soloing with Pete Long's Echoes of Ellington orchestra and you will observe a performer who is clearly having a ball. Whether singing or playing tenor saxophone, Gelato gives it all he's got. His enthusiasm and drive are contagious. This bandstand zest has brought him popularity here and on the continent, with the Italians at ...

... Big band brainwave These days--when live music is generally played by groups of three or four and a seven-piece soul band, with two or three horn players is hardly regarded as a sound commercial proposition..it is worth remembering that in the forties and fifties 15 and 16-piece big bands regularly toured the country, playing for dances, concerts and full weeks in variety. Now we have an ...

... In good hands It seems hard to believe that it was 30 years ago when Syd Lawrence first formed his orchestra in Manchester. It was originally intended to be just a 'rehearsal' band, playing one night a week and giving a chance for musicians to play the type of big band music they really enjoyed. After a couple of changes of venue, the band moved to an upstairs room in the Mersey Hotel. One ...

... History notes Two things strike me about John Chilton's splendid Who's Who in British Jazz, which was published at the end of last year just too late for inclusion in the 1996 feature. One is that it is a glorious nostalgia trip for those of us who spent many a night in our youth vis iting jazz clubs, both of the modem and traditional vari ety. The other is to discover that jazz is not ...

... A couple of Sheilas Peter Hepple enjoys a slice of jazz at home, thanks to a book and new CD releases On my desk a few weeks ago arrived two CDs from female singers whose names I have noticed on the jazz circuit listings, Trudy Kerr and Anita Wardell. Both, as it happened, were on the same FMR label. I played Warden's first, Why Do You Cry?, a truly solo effort, backed only by the dazzling ...

... A pizza jazz Looking back through the years I cannot think of any single person who has been such a benefactor to British jazz as Peter Boizot. And not only jazz. To that enthusiasm you could add hockey, his native city Peterborough and the Liberal Democrat Party. Boizot will always be remembered as being the man who introduced the pizza to Britain, bringing the first authentic pizza oven ...

... Easy writer Bridget Metcalfe is unusual in the jazz singing field in that she writes a high proportion of her own material, in partner ship with saxophonist Mark Allaway, much of which can be heard on her new CD, In Your Eyes. Her style is easy and nat ural, her voice charming and unforced, her stage presence such that she has the potential to become as considerable an entertainer as she is a ...

... Devoted to the Duke The recent success of Pete Long's Echoes of Ellington orchestra is one of the more heart-warming stories in British jazz. So how has it come about? Meeting Long, it is clear that he is passionate about bllington s musical legacy and how it should be presented to today's audi ences in authentic style. To achieve this, he has had to locate capable aides to tran scribe ...

... Lee's girls can go all the way It must be hard enough trying to run any big band in today's musical climate but trying to run an all-girl big band must be an even harder task. But none of this has deterred bandleader Crissy Lee, who sees a bright future for her outfit. Recently, Lee's band was awarded a £63,000 Lottery grant for a tour bus and plans are already afoot for a busy period ahead ...