Switching between trumpet, flugelhorn and pocket trumpet Andy Davies was on 'grandiose' form last night at the weekly Ronnie's jazz jam upstairs. The affable porkpie hat waistcoat-and-bow tie-wearing Welshman has a showman's instinct, hands to the sky, as he scooped up and expected applause at the end of each number, horn high to the ceiling when his solos were at their most dramatic.
Speaking to marlbank later he mused that the evening crowd was smaller than usual because of coronavirus and yet earlier had in his positive and amusing chats to what nonetheless was a fairly decent sized turn out notwithstanding the peril, counselled punters to forget the virus 'get the jazz bug' and 'you've come for the conversation' (as some serious loud mouths were yakking away in a booth for sure) 'and stayed for the jazz'. Saleem Raman 'best drummer in his price range,' quipped Davies was to his side shifting the tempo to tickle the fancy of classic guitarist Nigel Price somersaulting up and down the frets all night while the newcomer bassist, sadly I didn't catch his name, a protégé of the Julian Joseph Jazz Academy in Hackney, played beautifully on double bass, a new star on the scene, tremendously quick and agile pulsing throughout the first set. Numbers included 'Speak Low', 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams' and 'The End of a Love Affair' were my pick of the set.
Andy Davies pictured top left with Saleem Raman and the jazz jam returns on Wednesday. Pic. Marlbank
Tags: