IT has now become something of a festive tradition to see some of the finest local jazz musicians on the live circuit, some sterling soloists and a capacity audience for the Lichfield Jazz Big Band Christmas concert.
It was a set list and an evening that took in classic Christmas carols and more recent songs, mixed in with some big band jazz arrangements, saxophone, trumpet, keyboard and brass solos, all under the watchful eye of Nick Dewhurst.
With music arranged for a full 16-piece ensemble, the sound was full and elastic, with shifts in mood, timbre and time, particularly during the three distinct sections of I Saw Three Ships with a mysterious Middle Eastern section to begin with, a middle folk movement and a final big band swing movement at the end.
This was imaginatively arranged and played music.
In the Bleak Midwinter had something of a reggae tinge, moving it far away from Gustav Holst’s original feeling of melancholy.
The funk song Christmas Wrapping – a perennial favourite at these evenings – was performed with aplomb, while Last Christmas was an arrangement that featured the fine-toned bass of Tom Moore.
A big band arrangement of Little Drummer Boy allowed for some fine soloing from many of the players, before the set closing Deck The Halls featured miniature solos for all of the band, delivered with both skill and humour.