“A WARWICKSHIRE weekly jazz session will be taking on a funkier, more electrified aspect this weekend.

The Chapel’s mostly acoustic programme in Stratford sees trombonist Andy Derrick bringing out his quartet this Sunday and he will be joined by keyboardist Jo Ruddick, bassman Ben Markland and drummer Natasha Buxton.

Ruddick has been a constant fixture since the quartet’s genesis in 2005, but the band’s rhythm team has undergone a few changes.

Bristol-born Derrick now calls the Midlands home and he’s also the musical director of the Coventry University Big Band.

He’s an agile, eloquent soloist, even when in purely acoustic mode, but the trombonist’s armoury also includes a selection of effects units that can translate his lines into another shape entirely.

The quartet concentrates mostly on material written by Derrick himself. The stated compositional influences include Andy Sheppard, Dave Holland and Jaco Pastorius, walking with a funky, frequently Latinised gait.

Besides leading his own quartet, Derrick has played substantial stints with the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra and The Fat Chops Big Band.

Besides the usual horn variant, Derrick also blows valve and bass branches of the trombone family. Sunday’s Chapel session should be well worth attending.”

“SUNDAY is ‘bone time’ in Stratford as the exuberant and explosive Andy Derrick leads on the trombone with MYJO pianist Jo Ruddick on the keys, and the dream rhythm team of Ben Markland on bass and Neil Bullock on drums. Andy brings a real spice to the big slide horn and the band can get seriously funky while maintaining that jazz swing.

It all happens at The Chapel, No 1 Shakespeare Street in Stratford-upon-Avon from 8pm, and entry is £6. Find out more at www.stratfordjazz.org.uk

Peter writes a regular blog about all things Jazz here: http://thejazzbreakfast.wordpress.com/

Thanks a lot Peter!

Natasha is a popular and talented percussionist working as a busy professional all over the UK and is a former winner of the Kenny Clare Drum Prize at the BBC Big Band Contest.

She joins keyboards player Jo Ruddick, bass guitarist Ben Markland and myself on trombone and electric trombone for what is set to be a great gig.

Stratford Jazz is the promoter for this performance and they put on regular weekly sessions of the best of British modern jazz throughout the year and I’m very happy that we are joining them.

Ellen Terry Building
Jordan Well
Coventry
CV1

“Fancy Goods has had a long gestation, but it is finally here.

Some of the music was composed over the last 15 years and for different bands I was in or part of. Art Gecko I wrote in response to hearing a Birmingham Conservatoire band called Tungan Groove. This band led by keyboardist Steve Tromans made a great impression on me, punchy accurate horns, funky grooves juxtaposed with an incessant swing. I wrote it and it received its first performance in April 1996 at my major project, a final performance exam in the form of a public gig at the Adrian Boult Hall. The original of Art Gecko was intended to have a horn section of 4 trombones, but as always the best laid plans of mice and men…

Funky Pigs was written for an old band I was in called Something Else, a 6-piece group playing jazz and funk. A simple 8-bar blues in E, not the natural home of the trombone, was written for the bass player of Something Else, Marcus Cornall.

Freebop, a composed melody with time-no-changes solo section was written for the mid nineties version of my quartet. The melody has probably had more compositional work done on it than any other, which is ironic considering its free jazz credentials. The middle section contains a stunning Tromans piano solo which is a beautiful and terrifying piece of music all by itself.

My enjoyment of the music of Andy Sheppard goes back to when I was living in Bristol. Andy was a rising star and I would devour every latest recording. Mood Music is inspired by 2 Sheppard compositions Eargliding and Well Kept Secret, both from the In Co-Motion recording phases of the early nineties. Romantic Conversations is a cover of the main track from the Sheppard album Introductions In The Dark. Interestingly, this track was done in 1 take and all our monitoring and headphones stopped working with this track, we were playing only dimly aware of each other. The results go to show the standard of musicianship from the guys in the band despite the technical issues.

My favourite track is a long self-indulgent romp on a groove improvised by the Something Else band. The Mongrel has only 2 chords, a hint of melody with the rest improvised. There are no edits or retakes of this track, again a tribute to the inventiveness of my friends in the studio and the benefit of rehearsals.

Finally, She Moved Through The Fair is my take of the Simple Minds Belfast Child which is a reinterpretation of an old Irish folk song. I recorded this in a separate session with my old friend Trombonist and engineer Dr Simon Hall. I used 2 different trombones and improvised the arrangement and I am happy with the resulting sound – somewhere between ethereal wistfulness and soulfulness.

The album name has its origin in the many general stores around the areas in Birmingham where I have lived. They offer a bazaar-like experience offering cookware, electrical items, glassware, luggage and the mysterious ‘Fancy Goods’. I hope that the album creates the same effect and that you revisit often and find something new and interesting every time.

Cheers,

Andy

Go here for more information on the 50 gigs a year promoted by Stratford Jazz

Here are 2 photos I found when sorting through some stuff.

The first was taken at The White Swan in Stratford on Avon around 2005 and shows Mike Kemp on piano, Andy on trombone, Carl Hemmingsley on drums and Dave Storer on bass.

The next was a shot taken sometime in 1999 outside the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham during the soundcheck for a gig.  Yes, my hair really was the same colour as my trombone!

Here is probably the most descriptive photo from the set taken by Bill Shakespeare at the Rush Hour Blues.

We featured our usual mix of originals plus covers over pieces by Carla Bley and Herbie Hancock.  Premiered this gig was my new Metheney-esqu latin entitled Last Autumn which was actually inspired by Jan Garbarek – it covered all the possible moods of the band from gentle introspective calm to burgeoning rage.

Bill Shakespeare has kindly posted photos of the gig on Flickr and they can be viewed here: PHOTOS

As I spoke to the audience about promoters being too timid to invite trombone led bands, I hope anyone reading this will see that a) trombones do sound alright and b) can draw an audience.  If you want to see us perform live near you, have a word with your local promoter and invite them to visit this site.