ISSUE 163 WINTER 2020 CHICK WILLIS UK £3.25 Photo by Merlin Daleman CONTENTS Photo by CHRISTMAS STOCKING FILLERS Merlin Daleman CHICK WILLIS pictured at the Birmingham Jazz Festival. Chick makes an appearance in a new feature for Jazz BIG BEAR RECORDS CD OFFER Rag. We link up with Henry’s Blueshouse in Birmingham to EXCLUSIVELY FOR READERS OF THE JAZZ RAG present Henry’s Bluesletter (pages 32-33) ALL CDS £8 EACH OR THREE FOR £16 INCLUDING P&P 4 FESTIVAL IN TIME OF PLAGUE Birmingham, Sandwell and Westside Jazz Festival goes ahead 5 THE VIRUS IN NUMBERS JAZZ CITY UK VOLUME 2: THE JAM SESSIONS 6 ‘A TRUE NEW ORLEANS CHARACTER’ Coroner/trumpeter Frank Minyard Howard McCrary Various Artists Various Artists Lady Sings Potato Head 7 I GET A KICK OUT OF… Moments Like This Jazz City UK Volume 2 Jazz City UK Volume 1 The Blues Jazz Band Promoter John Billett Laughing at Life Stompin’ Around 8 COMPETITION: LOUIS ARMSTRONG 9 GOODBYE TO A STAR Roger Cotterrell on Peter King 11 BBC YOUNG JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR 12 SUPERBLY SWINGING Alan Barnes remembers Dick Morrissey Remi Harris Trio Tipitina King Pleasure & Nomy Rosenberg Django’s Castle 14 FRENCH BOOGIE STAR Ninick Taking Care of The Biscuit Boys Nomy Rosenberg Trio with Bruce Adams Ron Simpson profiles Ben Toury Business Live At Last Swing Hotel du Vin 16 50 BY LOUIS Scott Yanow’s choice FIND US ON FACEBOOK 18 ROY WILLIAMS IN PICS The Jazz Rag now has its own Facebook page. For news of upcoming festivals, gigs and releases, 20 REFLECTING DREAMS Marilyn Mazur interviewed by Ron Simpson features from the archives, competitions and who knows what else, be sure to ‘like’ us. To find the 22 CD REVIEWS page, simply enter ‘The Jazz Rag’ in the search bar 34 BOOK REVIEWS The Whiskey Tipitina King Pleasure & Alan Barnes’ King Pleasure & at the top when logged into Facebook. Brothers I Wish I Was In New The Biscuit Boys Marbella All Stars The Biscuit Boys Bottle Up And Go Orleans Hey Puerto Rico! The Marbella Jazz Smack Dab In The Suite Middle THE JAZZ RAG PO BOX 944, Birmingham, B16 8UT, England UPFRONT Tel: 0121454 7020 REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL Fax: 0121 454 9996 Email: [email protected] In a time of gloom, characterised by cancellations, postponements and ingenious attempts to preserve something like live jazz, there are reasons to be cheerful: Web: www.jazzrag.com perhaps there are hints now of soon-to-return near-normality. But for many of us the best news came in the recent Honours List, not a place where jazz lovers Publisher / editor: Jim Simpson regularly find much to delight in. News / features: Ron Simpson Reviews editor: Nick Hart This year anyone who loves jazz must have been delighted at the award of the Bruce Adams/Alan Bill Allred’s Good Bruce Adams/Alan Duncan Swift Bruce Adams International editor: Yue Yang MBE to Roy Williams. From Eric Batty’s Jazz Aces via lengthy spells with the Barnes Quintet Time Jazz Band Barnes Quintet The Broadwood Quartet Commercial Director: Tim Jennings great Alex Welsh and Humphrey Lyttelton Bands to an internationally acclaimed Let’s Face The Music Swing That Music! Side Steppin’ Concert One Foot In The Subscriptions & accounts: Nick Hart freelance career, Roy was for many years beyond doubt the nonpareil of British Gutter Designed by Nerys James jazz trombonists. Printed by Warwick Printing In Jazz Rag 159 Digby Fairweather profiled Roy at length, referring to him as www.warwickprinting.co.uk To order send a cheque payable to Big Bear Music to PO Box 944, Birmingham B16 8UT ‘simply the most perfect trombone-player I have ever had the privilege to play with.’ The British Empire is lucky to have him as a Member! To pay by card phone 0121 454 7020 or visit www.bigbearmusic.com/cds and enter the code © 2020 THE JAZZ RAG. All original material including advertising artwork remains the sole copyright of the JRLOCKDOWN8 to purchase one CD for £8 or JRLOCKDOWN16 to purchase three for £16 Publisher and may not be reproduced without permission Roy Williams in Pictures: pages 18-19 2 THE JAZZ RAG THE JAZZ RAG 3 A FESTIVAL IN TIME OF PLAGUE THE VIRUS IN NUMBERS A FESTIVAL IN TIME OF PLAGUE THE VIRUS IN NUMBERS How does the jazz world • Remember everything is before, might come under from their long lay-off from live The International Jazz Musician that 61% of jazz musicians said Some of the figures looking The most cheering part of a respond to the overwhelming provisional. In a sense this special measures and that the performance, were outstanding Survey by Jazzfuel.com paints that their 2020 income would forward are particularly relevant. generally depressing survey is presence of COVID-19? There is true of all festivals – a Government might impose a and on the previous evening a vivid picture of the effects of be at least 50% lower than 2019 Perhaps the most horrifying the element of positivity in many are any number of responses singer may lose her voice or national circuit breaker lockdown the Bruce Adams/Dave Newton the coronavirus on the world of (30% at least 75% less) will is that, by mid-October, 55% of the individual comments, possible on the scale from musicians may miss a flight – during Festival week. Quartet was in fine form in West jazz as of October 13th. The full astonish no one. In fact, reading of jazz musicians had no live revealing the resilience of the hunkering down till it’s over to but it’s an essential of plague- Bromwich Central Library. survey of 266 musicians (59% in between the lines, that figure performances scheduled for typical jazz musician. Whether trying to carry on as near-normal time planning. As it happened, neither came to The audiences for the Adams/ Europe, including 22.5% in UK, is more startling when taken 2021 – with the figure as high honing admin skills, reassessing as possible. The experience pass. Instead Italy, up to that point Newton gig, however, were 35% North America, including together with the actual scale as 73% in the United States. their musical direction or of the Birmingham Sandwell • Be light on your feet. Smart stable in infection figures, suffered nowhere near the Library, but 28% in USA) makes fascinating of financial loss: the average lost However, the survey also reveals improving their playing, musicians and Westside Jazz Festival instant responses to crises a spike and a day or so before in two pubs in Birmingham, reading, with some extremely income from cancelled shows the flexibility of jazz musicians, found advantages in the time of is instructive, confusing and have to be like London buses – the Festival the UK Government four retirement villages and revealing results alongside some was £9,378 (£13,315 in the USA 62% claiming that the events of COVID and a respondent from ultimately rather inspiring. another one along in a minute. imposed quarantine restrictions their own homes, watching on we could all have predicted. and £7,093 in Europe). Of course this year have changed their plans the USA summed up the implied on arrivals from Italy. Since the YouTube. In the time of COVID the lost income is based on for releasing music. In particular dedication of many: To start with a bit of background. • Remain charitable. Musicians Festival’s sole European band was the live stream has come into It is hardly surprising that on shows that were never arranged livestream concerts are here to The original July dates were and venues will inevitably have the Jim Dandies from Bassano del its own. Another set from a a scale of 1-10 the average as well as those cancelled, but the stay, with 49% performing at least ‘More than ever I can’t imagine clearly impossible, though a to go back on their word. Grappa, with seven shows from Sandwell Library (Wednesbury) musician’s optimism for the jazz figures are hardly suggestive of one and 27% extremely likely to doing anything else with my life virtual jazz festival kept the Smile nicely and say, ‘How Wednesday onwards, action was teamed saxophonists of different scene is as low as 4.2 – in fact, a financially rewarding life at the carry on doing so. that would be as meaningful.’ name alive. So there was a about next year, then?’ In clearly required: generations (Alan Barnes and it’s quite impressive that it’s even best of times. https://jazzfuel.com/covid-jazz-survey/ choice between cancellation and Birmingham’s case an original Alex Clarke) to terrific effect as high as that. Similarly the fact postponement. Cancellation was schedule of 74 events (still Thursday: Try to switch flights and two bands, Shufflepack and unthinkable given the number of much lower than the 200-plus to Saturday before quarantine Tipitina, were so disappointed committed stakeholders in the of July festivals) was whittled introduced. at missing the festival that Guy Barker Derek Nash Festival, so the next question down to about 30, but that’s Friday 0658: Call from Italy – they live streamed sets into was the date. By working on still a sizeable festival. this is not possible. Birmingham pubs. the principle that the later the Friday 0859: Alternative date, the more chance of being • Remember that the Festival strategy: replace the Jim Dandies Printing the programme was virus-free, the Festival organisers Director is not the only boss. with the re-formed blues and delayed as late as possible to showed they had no more idea If Festival organisers have to Americana super-group Wang reduce changes, but 75 per cent of the likely progress of COVID jump through hoops to get Dang Doodle, assembled for of the events in it had to be than did our government.