‘JAZZ FRIENDS’ at BRECON JAZZ CLUB, THE MUSE ARTS CENTRE, BRECON, 09/07/2024.

House Trio;
Mike Chappell – piano, Steve Tarner – double bass, John Gibbon- drums

with;

Bonita – vocals
Jodie (Dennis) – alto sax, vocals

Deborah Glenister – tenor sax, flute
Ed Jones – flugelhorn, vocals

Leona - vocals
Aaron – vocals

‘Sharon’s Quartet’
Sharon Gunde – alto sax, Deborah Glenister – tenor sax, Robert Parker – tenor sax, Kathryn Powell - clarinet

Currently working flat out ahead of the 2024 Brecon Jazz Festival which will take place over the course of three separate weekends in August Brecon Jazz Club co-ordinators Lynne Gornall and Roger Cannon handed over the organisational duties for the July Club event to Bonita and Jodie, two ‘Jazz Friends’ from the Swansea Valley.

Singer Bonita and alto saxophonist / vocalist Jodie are amateur musicians who play in a variety of bands, including the Swansea based Constellation Big Band. Working closely with Brecon resident Mike Chappell, the leader of the ‘house trio’ they prepared a programme that saw both of them performing with the house trio as well as inviting other “Jazz Friends” to take to the stage to sing and play with the house band.

The house trio featured Chappell plus the bass and drum pairing of Steve Tarner and John Gibbon, two stalwarts of the Welsh jazz scene, These two had come in at short notice to replace the advertised Ian Cooper and Phill O’Sullivan, so thank you to them for that.

Tellingly the event wasn’t advertised as a “jam session”, as these can sometimes become competitive, “cutting sessions” if you will, with fully professional musicians turning up to play. Instead the emphasis was on friendship and community, with some of tonight’s performers appearing in public for the first time. Every performer, no matter how inexperienced, was given an excellent reception by a supportive Brecon audience who had turned out in force for this good natured, value for money event. The Muse was full to capacity and the atmosphere was warm and encouraging throughout. Due t the informal nature of the event several of the musicians are identified by their first names only, as this was how they were announced as they took to the stage.

Lynne Gornall introduced the evening but thereafter left the announcing duties to Bonita and Jodie, declaring that this was very much “their evening”, and especially Jodie’s, who was celebrating her birthday. The appropriate song was of course sung.

That came a bit later and it was the house trio that got us underway as a passage of unaccompanied ‘piano’ (a Yamaha electric keyboard) ushered in “All The Things You Are”. This most familiar of standards included solos from Chappell and Tarner and a series of lively drum breaks from the irrepressible John Gibbon.

Bonita and Jodie joined the trio for “Summertime” with Bonita handling the vocals and Jodie playing alto sax. Jodie was the featured soloist while Gibbon displayed the more sensitive side of his playing as he switched to brushes.

Bonita and Jodie then remained on stage for “All of Me”,with Jodie again the featured instrumental soloist.

Bonita left the stage as birthday girl Jodie was featured on both sax and vocals on an arrangement of the Duke Ellington composition “Satin Doll”, with Chappell also featuring as a soloist.

Jodie was featured as an instrumentalist as she again shared the solos with Chappell on a version of “Blue Bossa”, a tune written by the late, great trumpeter Kenny Dorham (1924 – 72). Tonight’s performance was also notable for Gibbon’s impressive display of hand drumming.

The co-organisers now invited the young trumpeter / vocalist Ed Jones to the stage. Jones has played in various big bands with Bonita and Jodie and his first item was a vocal performance of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”.

He then took up the flugelhorn to play “a TV theme, can you guess what it is?”. Of course everybody knew “Meet The Flintstones”, a tune that has entered the repertoire of many jazz acts over the years. This guaranteed crowd pleaser was tackled in a lively and playful manner with Jones leading off the solos on flugel, followed by Chappell, Tarner and Gibbon.

Next to take to the stage was Deborah Glenister, a regular visitor to Brecon Jazz Club and Brecon Jazz Festival. Llanelli based Glenister is an experienced musician and composer, equally adept on piano, flute and a range of saxophones. She and Jodie both play alto in the Constellation Big Band.

Tonight Glenister began by focussing on tenor as she and the trio tackled Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose”. An expansive solo from Glenister was followed by features for Chappell and Tarner plus a series of drum breaks from Gibbon as he ‘traded fours’ with the other instrumentalists.

Glenister then switched to flute for the only original composition of the evening, a piece with the self explanatory title of “Deborah’s Bossa”, this featuring solos from Glenister and Chappell.
I recall that at the 2023 Brecon Jazz Festival Glenister led a trio from the piano and performed an original called “Deborah’s Waltz”, that title a subtle homage to Bill Evans. It’s tempting to think of this and “Deborah’s Bossa” as companion pieces.

Following a sequence of three instrumental numbers Bonita returned to the stage to sing “Dream A Little Dream Of Me”, with Gibbon wielding brushes and Chappell the featured instrumental soloist.

The evening also featured the talents of two young singers who are being coached by the Cardiff based vocalist Dionne Bennett, a great friend of Brecon Jazz Club and Festival.

Bennett was in attendance to encourage her young charges and the first set concluded with Leona singing “I’d Rather Go Blind”, a song most closely associated with the great Etta James.

It had been the intention that Bennett’s other protege, Aaron, should close the first half, but instead he opened the second. Things didn’t start well. I don’t know if somebody had opened a door or turned on a fan but the sheet music of all the performers was caught in gust of wind and blew off the stands. With the support of a sympathetic crowd Aaron actually turned this mishap to his advantage with a rousing version of “When You’re Smiling” that delighted both the audience and his mentor Dionne Bennett.

The ‘house trio’ then performed the scheduled set opener “Lady Be Good”, with solos from Chappell, Tarner and Gibbon. Bassist Tarner is a veteran of these kind of informal jazz gatherings, having once organised the acclaimed Jazz Jam Sessions at the New Court Hotel in Usk.

Next to take to the stage was ‘Sharon’s Quartet’, four woodwind players featuring Brecon Jazz stalwart Sharon Gunde on alto sax alongside tenor players Deborah Glenister and Robert Parker and clarinettist Kathryn Powell. These four teamed up with the house trio to create an impressively big sound on a highly satisfying version of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man”, with solos from all four horn players.

An increasingly confident Bonita then returned to the stage to sing a particularly effective version of Peggy Lee’s “Fever”, largely accompanied just by Tarner’s bass and Gibbon’s hand drumming.

Similarly impressive was her version of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free”, written by Dr. Billy Taylor.

Jodie’s second feature spot saw her playing alto on the Luis Bonfa tune variously known as “Manhã de Carnaval”, “Black Orpheus” or even “A Day in the Life of a Fool”. This saw Jodie sharing the solos with Mike Chappell.

She also played the ballad “Someone To Watch Over Me”, a song dating from 1926 and written by George and Ira Gershwin. Nearly a century later it remains hugely popular with jazz performers and audiences alike.

Ed Jones returned to the stage to deliver an unusually jaunty version of “La Vie en Rose”, soloing on flugelhorn alongside Chappell at the piano.

He then sang “I Get A Kick Out of You”, which also included instrumental solos from Chappell, Tarner and Gibbon. I have to say that I preferred him as an instrumentalist, although that may just be a matter of personal taste. He’s certainly a very talented young man.

The last individual performer to be featured was Glenister, who returned to the stage to add her fluent, big boned tenor sound to the Morgan Lewis song “How High The Moon”, a piece that also included solos from Chappell and Tarner and a series of drum breaks from Gibbon. The drummer was a cheerful and playful presence throughout, these qualities expressed both in his playing and his verbal asides from behind the kit. “Just talk amongst yourselves”, uttered as the handovers were taking place, quickly became something of a catchphrase for the evening.

The final number of the night saw all the performers crowding onto the stage as best they could. “King of the Swingers” featured Bonita’s vocals and a whole string of horn solos from Jodie, Glenister, Parker, Powell and Jones. A great way to round off a highly enjoyable evening that had emphasised the qualities of friendship, community and mutual support.

It might not have been the most profound jazz performance you’ve ever heard but the love of the music from all the performers was palpable. British jazz is very much a community, and no more so than in Wales.

It’s a community that I’m very proud to be a part of and I consider the organisers of all the local jazz clubs that I attend on a regular basis, in both England and Wales, to be personal friends. Then there are the publicists, photographers and venue owners, plus of course the musicians themselves, and not forgetting my fellow jazz fans. I’ve met so many wonderful people since I started writing about jazz and it’s that sense of community that makes it all worthwhile.

Tonight I made more friends and the gig was a triumph for Bonita and Jodie, not to mention Mike Chappell. A great deal of work had clearly gone into planning the programme and on the whole things ran very smoothly, with all the performers being warmly and generously received by a welcoming and supportive audience. This was a real community event that emphasised that “Jazz is for Everybody”.

Congratulations to Bonita and Jodie and their ‘Jazz Friends’ for staging such a successful and inclusive community jazz event.

 

 

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