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Review

by Ian Mann

March 16, 2016

/ ALBUM

A fine celebration of an institution that has done so much for jazz education in this country. As an album this touches all of NYJO's bases and most jazz listeners should find something to enjoy here.

National Youth Jazz Orchestra

“NYJO Fifty”

(Whirlwind Recordings WR4679)

This double album was released in November 2015 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, hereafter referred to as NYJO.

NYJO was founded in 1965 by Bill Ashton OBE to offer the opportunity for young people under the age of twenty five to play big band jazz. Generations of musicians have been given the opportunity to rehearse, write and to perform live under the inspirational baton of Mr. Ashton and his successor as Artistic & Music Director, Mark Armstrong.

Many leading British musicians have developed their talents in the NYJO ranks and the list of alumni mentioned in the accompanying press release includes trumpeters Guy Barker, Gerard Presencer and Laura Jurd, trombonists Mark Nightingale and Dennis Rollins and saxophonists Nigel Hitchcock and Pete Long. I also seem to recall that the Arguelles brothers, Steve and Julian also passed through the band and I also remember the dynamic drumming of the late Chris Dagley. But perhaps the most famous NYJO alumnus is the tragic figure of Amy Winehouse who sang with the band before changing musical direction and finding a mainstream pop success that she was pitifully ill equipped to handle.

But let’s not dwell on tragedy, the release of “NYJO Fifty” is a celebration of the great work that the Orchestra has done over the course of the last half century. NYJO has always moved with the times, as befits an orchestra of young people, and the organisation has always kept pace with contemporary jazz developments. The NYJO sound has always been remarkably modern with a strong emphasis placed on original compositions, these sourced both from within the ranks of the band and from illustrious guest composers and arrangers. The first disc in this two CD set concentrates on this aspect of NYJO’s work and includes pieces by composers who also appear as guest soloists, notably saxophonist Julian Siegel and pianist Zoe Rahman.

The second disc places a greater emphasis on ‘traditional’ big band material and includes a greater number of jazz standards alongside the original compositions.

Disc One gets off to a rousing start with Siegel’s “Mama Badgers”, originally written for the Voice of The North Jazz Orchestra. Siegel first worked with NYJO at the 2013 Gateshead International Jazz Festival and he guests on tenor sax on this piece alongside additional soloists Owen Dawson (trombone), Rob Luft (guitar) and David Dyson (drums). It’s particularly interesting for me to hear a large ensemble version of this piece after hearing it performed under a slightly different title (“Mbadgers”) by Siegel’s four piece electric group Partisans. It’s a complex piece of writing but the members of NYJO tackle the challenge with considerable aplomb with the three soloists making outstanding contributions.

Former NYJO member Chris Whiter wrote “Dreams”, a tender, lushly orchestrated ballad which demonstrates the gentler side of the band. The featured soloist here is the excellent James Copus who displays a remarkable fluency on flugel horn.

Since 2010 NYJO have been commissioning pieces from leading British jazz composers, some of which were presented on their 2012 album “The Change”. It was via this process that NYJO received Kit Downes’ “Wintermute”, a charming but highly rhythmic piece that breezily revels in its complexities whilst framing lucid solos from tenor saxophonist David Healey and trombonist Tom Dunnett. 

The punchy, funky “Rush Hour”, written by Russell Ferrante and Robben Ford has been arranged for the band by former NYJO trumpeter Nick Dewhurst and features flautist Gareth Lockrane, another alumnus, as guest soloist. Additional soloists include guitarist Rob Luft, again making clever use of his range of FX, and tenor saxophonist Healey. But it’s Lockrane’s effervescent flute, effortlessly soaring above the rhythms swirling around him, that really catches the ear.

“Sea Master” comes from the pen of former member Tom Walsh and is another example of the gentler side of the band’s playing. Episodic in construction and ballad like in mood it includes a further tenor solo from Healey, one of the band’s most important instrumentalists. This time adopting more of a ballad style, but still probing intelligently, he shares the spotlight with Tom Dennis’ velvety flugel horn and Luft’s subtly distorted guitar.

Saxophonist and composer Jason Yarde’s “Sub Hub Hubbub” came to NYJO via their commissioning process. It’s highly contemporary, a lively, rhythmic, open tune that offers ample scope to a string of soloists including bassist Joe Downard, trombonist Owen Dawson, altoist Sam Glaser, pianist Rupert Cox and drummer David Dyson. 

Trombonist Dawson wrote “No Pau De Acucar” a gentle Brazilian flavoured composition with a sumptuous big band arrangement plus solos from Copus on flugelhorn and the distinctive Luft on guitar.

Zoe Rahman’s “Red Squirrel” was originally written as a piano trio piece. The composer features strongly as a guest soloist on Mark Armstrong’s accomplished large ensemble arrangement of an already complex and highly energetic piece. Luft is again prominent in the arrangement as Rahman shares soloing duties with alto saxophonist Sam Glaser.

Laura Jurd’s setting of John Donne’s poem “No Man Is An Island” also came about as the result of NYJO’s commissioning process, even though the trumpeter was once a member of the Orchestra.
Jurd likes to incorporate words into her music and this performance features NYJO singer Jessica Radcliffe who delivers Donne’s lines very effectively. The highly contemporary arrangement is frequently more forceful and energetic than one might expect, revealing perhaps the influence of Jurd’s group Blue-Eyed Hawk. Tenor saxophonist Tom Ridout, recently a finalist in the BBC’s ‘Young Jazz Musician of the Year’ competition, takes the instrumental honours with a powerful solo above hard driving rhythms. 

As aluuded to previously the second disc is much more traditional/conventional in feel and commences with Mark Armstrong’s arrangement of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues”, originally scored for a double big band on the occasion of NYJO’s collaboration with their German counterpart BuJazzO in 2014. This piece has more of an orthodox big band swing and acts as the vehicle for solos from Tom Gardner on trumpet and Jim Gold on alto sax with Dyson enjoying a final drum flourish.

Former NYJO trombonist Mark Nightingale’s tune “He’s Just My Bill” has been a fixture in the Orchestra’s concert sets for years but has never previously been recorded. The composer features as a guest soloist on a warm arrangement that retains a familiar sense of old fashioned big band swing throughout. Honouring the virtues of the traditional big band sound this piece sounds as if it could have been recorded in the 1940s and Nightingale’s fruity trombone solo is very much the cherry on the cake.

“Ballad For Loos” honours the late pianist Stan Tracey and originally appeared on the composer’s final album “The Flying Pig”. Steve Melling’s arrangement of one of Tracey’s most tender pieces is beautiful, and doubtless a labour of love. The featured musicians here include Rupert Cox on piano, Alistair Martin on flugel horn, Jim Gold on alto sax and Tom Ridout on tenor. 

Singer Jessica Radcliffe features on the next two pieces. First up is Armstrong’s interesting arrangement of the Harry Warren/Al Dubin standard “Lullaby Of Broadway” with Radcliffe sharing the spotlight with alto saxophonist Jim Gold.
Former NYJO trombonist Callum Au is responsible for the arrangement of Rodgers & Hart’s “My Romance” with singer Radcliffe featured alongside Alistair Martin on flugel horn. On both pieces Radcliffe sings with warmth, conviction and perfect enunciation.

“Never The Twain”, written by alto saxophonist Matt Waites, presumably another NYJO alumnus, is the first of two pieces constituting the kind of ‘instrumental battle’ that has become a staple part of the big band repertoire. Pianist Rupert Cox shows up well as he opens the soloing but the real fireworks come as altoists Jim Gold and Sam Glaser are pitched against each other and the sparks begin to fly.

“What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?” is an exquisite Armstrong arrangement of the Michel Legrand song and incorporates another assured vocal performance from Radcliffe who is featured alongside Healey’s tenor sax.

George Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day In London Town” is given an an imaginative makeover by arranger Josh Daniels as he combines elegant, noirish ensemble sections with more hard grooving passages that act as the spur for the fiery alto soloing of Sam Glaser.

Chris Smith’s “Going Dutch” then represents the second of the ‘instrumental battles’ as tenorists Healey and Ridout go toe to toe in a rousing big band arrangement that recalls the ‘cutting contests’ of the past. Once the tenors have blown themselves out the piece concludes with a drum salvo from Dyson. 

It is perhaps appropriate that this celebration of NYJO’s half century should end with an original song by Bill Ashton arranged by multi-intrumentalist Paul Hart, another key figure in the NYJO story. Jessica Radcliffe enjoys the opportunity to deliver the slightly salacious lyrics as she again features alongside Healey’s tenor sax.

Regular readers of the Jazzmann won’t be surprised to learn that I prefer the contemporary aspects of the first disc over the more traditional fare of the second but “NYJO Fifty” is still a fine celebration of an institution that has done so much for jazz education in this country. One only has to look at the illustrious list of musicians who have graduated from the band’s ranks and at the regional jazz orchestras, many of them highly accomplished, to be found all over the country. As an album “NYJO Fifty” touches all of NYJO’s bases and most jazz listeners should find something to enjoy here.

I’ve been lucky enough to see NYJO perform live on a couple of occasions. Many years ago under the direction of Bill Ashton they actually visited my home town of Leominster. It’s an awfully long time ago but I seem to recall that the focus then was largely on original material.

More recently they performed under Armstrong’s guidance at the much missed Titley Jazz Festival, also in deepest Herefordshire. That was in 2014 and the programme was comprised largely of Ellington and Basie numbers but the personnel included many of the musicians featured on this album.


For the record the NYJO line up on this album is as follows;

Mark Armstrong – Music Director

Rosie Stano – flute

Jim Gold, Sam Glaser – alto sax/clarinet

David Healey, Tom Ridout – tenor sax/clarinet

Jessamy Holder – baritone sax, flute, clarinet

Alex Chadwick – baritone sax

James Davison, Tom Dennis, James Copus, Tom Gardner, Alistair Martin, Matthew Yardley, Jakes Labazzi – trumpets & flugels

Tom Dunnett, Owen Dawson, Chris Valentine, Maddie Dowdeswell, Chris Saunders, Jasper Rose – trombones

James Buckle – trombone

Rupert Cox – piano

Rob Luft, Nick Fitch – guitars

Joe Downard – bass

David Dyson – drums

Max Mills – percussion

Jessica Radcliffe - vocals

NYJO has two live dates coming up as follows;


15th April 2016 - The Guildhall, Portsmouth

6th May 2016 - Cranleigh School

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