Lichfield Jazz sold out their final concert of 2022 with their traditional Big Band Christmas special.
With an ensemble that included 16 of the finest players from the local area, their set encompassed some festive favourites, pop songs, and even an original tune from the band’s arranger, conductor and trumpeter Nick Dewhurst.
The evening started with some jazz and funk from the Walsall Music Hub. Their skills belied their age, with jazz pieces such as Aligator Boogaloo, a Christmas favourite with Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and an original piece, Two for One, showing the full range of this talented ensemble.
The Lichfield Jazz Big Band started their action-packed set with Hark The Herald Angels Sing, perhaps the closest reading the group gave to a traditional piece, although the voicings for the brass added something different to the sonic palette.
They added jazz verve and some exciting improvisation to the pop of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and White Christmas had an unusually blue hue to it.
The pace and the rafters were lifted by the brass-heavy original, Double Espresso, the exciting and commanding performance an early highlight of the night.
Last Christmas – George Michael’s evergreen festive favourite – also received a good make-over, with the melody played on electric bass with support from the brass and woodwind sections.
The set was closed by In The Bleak Midwinter, the sad, plangent theme stated on solo trumpet, before a jazz funk interlude took the tune and the audience in an unexpected direction.
The second half also showed much variety with Winter Wonderland being a showcase for the saxophonists, before the funk rhythms of Christmas Wrapping added something of the feel of the office Christmas party.
Deck the Halls received a reggae make-over and an interesting arrangement with each of the instruments playing parts of the tune. It was a tour de force display in both conducting and arrangement, with purposeful atonality and humourous turns to make the tune more dynamic.
I Saw Three Ships was also interestingly played in three different moods. The first was Middle Eastern-themed with a certain nod of the head to Ennio Morricone, while the second movement was more of a folk version, with the tune played as a jig more suited to violins than to brass, but it worked. The final movement saw the pace quicken and the big band let off the musical leash.
