"Revellers paid tribute to the late George Melly as the 2007 Brecon Jazz Festival got underway on Friday night.
Cardiff's Adamant Parade Band led a traditional New Orleans style funeral dirge to the tune of Just A Closer Walk With Thee which turned into a joyous parade - surely what George would have wanted.
Jools Holland was the Friday night headliner but with tickets for the concert sold out long ago there was still plenty on offer elsewhere around the town.
Festival regulars the Root Doctors led by the irrepressible Mike Harries could be trusted to deliver a crowd-pleasing gumbo of New Orleans funk, soul, jazz and more.
A hard act to follow, but the Dave Stapleton Quintet did just that. The Cardiff-based pianist delivered a powerful but controlled set of melodic European contemporary jazz which - if they want - has great potential to reach out to a rock audience at Glastonbury or Green Man.
Spacious numbers from the forthcoming album The House Always Wins showed that the band is more than capable of building on the nationwide acclaim they won for their debut When Life Was In Black And White.
Outside the main venues, the prospect of the return of street music on Saturday and Sunday was eagerly anticipated, but the festive atmosphere was already present in the pubs and clubs taking part in the Brecon Fringe.
There, bands like Red Eyed Fly put the emphasis firmly on rockin' rhythm and blues. Indeed, it's hard not to marvel at the wild-eyed antics of frontman Mike Bird and see that the spirit of Melly lives on!
All this and Burlesque Betty's Brecon Review for the even more adventurous visitor...
For the rest of the weekend I mainly took a Stroller's point of view, though the Chris Barber Big Band on Saturday night and Ray Gelato on Sunday night were both, as expected, polished acts of the highest quality.
Ray may have suffered a little competition for audience numbers from a string of swinging bands in the Beacons Stroller venue with The Jive Aces and Ocean's Seven keeping the jivers jumping throughout Sunday evening.
My own band Wonderbrass had a warm reception in our Sunday afternoon gig in the Captain's Walk - whenever we're told we're a pleasure to watch I always reply that it's a pleasure to play.
And it was great to see music back on the streets, especially Slim Lightfoot's upbeat slide guitar blues - just enough to build up the atmosphere without becoming too big an obstacle to negotiate our way between the venues.
As always, it's impossible to see everything, so feel free to add your comments and reviews of Brecon Jazz 2007."
Review written by Andy Roberts.
More about Jazz on BBC Wales...
your comments
Dave Moorcraft from Penarth
don't want to put a damper on what was an enjoyable festival -but WHY are there so few - if any - Traditional Jazz Bands . Apart from Cardiff's Adamant band walking the street Friday evening there seem to be none . The previous year we did have Liberty Street which attracted a crowd down by the Sh^t Works.Blues , rock and modern monopolise the programme - and it looks the same for 08 !
Mon May 26 21:25:06 2008
Jane Wildeboer from West Sussex
Congratulations on one of my best Brecon Jazz Festivals ever! We were just about to give up on you after last year's catastrophe, but I'm so glad we decided not to. Great to see the street music back too - you only have to look at last year's photos to see how dead everything was without it. Concerts which blew me away were Hiromi (how could she not?) and the Partisans - a great venue to see them too, in the Guildhall. The Stroller offered some excellent music too - the less crowded Friday Root Doctors gig gave us the chance to really appreciate their musicianship, as well as have a bit of a dance. We stuck around for Dave Stapleton who I saw last year on a concert. We were not disappointed. Tony Bruce is a trumpet genius. Brecon Jazz wouldn't be the same without the wonderful Pendulum - a feast for the eyes and ears. Other acts enjoyed: Osian Roberts Trio, Nigel Price Quartet, John Donalds, and Mark Edwards, Simon Spillet - and on the final night I spent three hours dancing to the fab Mike Sanchez and The Jive Aces. And all the Stewards I encountered were so friendly. Last year the officiousness and regulations made some of them rather hostile - they weren't enjoying it either!
Wed Aug 15 14:21:05 2007
Dave from Hereford
Just returned from my annual Brecon weekend and was delighted with the resurgent Root Doctors who have made the crossover from blues to jazz funk with great effect. I was full of anticipation in seeing Emelda May after the stunning performance she put in last year with Blue Harlem, but was sadly dissapointed.The move from Blue Harlem to fronting her on band does not have the same fire, energy and musical content, another case I think of the singers in bands not really appreciating the musicians behind them! Another highlight for me was Sonny Black, what better way to chill on a sunday afternoon than to listen to really mellow guitar. Overall conclusion: still has not got the vibe it had years ago in bringing new and diverse jazz from young artists to the fore. There is far too much reliance on blues and r&b, I had to pinch myself sometimes as I was starting to think I was at Upton Blues Festival!
Tue Aug 14 09:45:03 2007
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