Andy Hague Big Band

“Live At The Lantern”

(Ooh-Err Records)

Andy Hague, Dave Ford, Jonny Bruce, Nick Malcolm – trumpets

Vince Ford, Raph Clarkson, Nick Attwood, Matt Davies – trombones,

Luke Annesley, Keith Morgan – alto saxes

Ben Waghorn, Ruth Hammond – tenor saxes

Kevin Figes – baritone sax

Jim Blomfield – piano

Riaan Vosloo – bass

Mark Whitlam – drums

Andy Hague is one of the stalwarts of the Bristol jazz scene in his various roles as multi-instrumentalist, composer, promoter and educator. 

Best known as a trumpeter he has released several small group recordings, among them “In The Distance” (1990, re-released 2019), “Portrait of the Artist as an Old Git” (1996), “Walk The Walk” (2001),” Sun & Air” (2006), “Cross My Palm” (2012),  “Coming of Age” (2018) and “Release” (2021).

Of these “Cross My Palm”, “Coming of Age” and “Release” have all been reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann site, as has a 2022 live performance by Hague’s Double Standards Quartet, the band that recorded “Release”, at Cheltenham Jazz Club.

He also leads also leads the instrumental salsa band Sexteto Gringo, with whom he released the six track EP “Oye Mi Cha Cha “in 2024. 

Hague has worked with saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and trombonist Fred Wesley in the Back To Jazz Big Band and with the big band led by American trumpeter Bobby Shew. As a session musician he has worked with one of Bristol’s biggest musical exports, legendary “trip hop” exponents Portishead, as well as working on TV, theatre and film productions.

Hague is an also an accomplished and increasingly in demand drummer. He has worked in this role with small groups led by pianists John Law and Dave Jones and has appeared in this capacity on two recordings by the latter.

He is the organiser of the weekly Friday night sessions at Bristol’s long running Be-Bop Jazz Club, currently domiciled  at the Hen & Chicken pub in the Southville district of the city.

Hague is also an acclaimed educator, leading the well established Bristol Jazz Workshop programme, running a community big band and acting as a tutor on a variety of jazz summer schools and residential weekends. He also acts as an external examiner for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.

Originally formed in 2005 Hague’s Big Band is a sixteen piece ensemble featuring the cream of Bristol’s jazz musicians. Many of the players are bandleaders in their own right and have also featured frequently on the Jazzmann web pages.

“Live at the Lantern” was documented on 8th December 2024 when the band played under the name “The Albert All-Stars” at The Lantern performance space at The Beacon complex, the former Colston Hall. The occasion was a celebration of Ian Storror’s fortieth anniversary of promoting jazz in Bristol under the generic title “Jazz At The Albert”.  The venue for these events may have changed many times over the years but has kept the name of its original home, the Albert public house.

Hague says of the recording;
“The performance was recorded with a single stereo microphone at the front, so the balance is not always perfect, but the sound is remarkably good overall and the excitement and atmosphere of the live recording hopefully overcome any shortcomings”.

For me what s particularly pleasing about this album is the fact that seven of the ten tracks are Hague originals. It’s refreshing to hear a bandleader playing and directing his own music, and with this stellar band Hague has the musicians capable of doing justice to his compositional ideas.

Things kick off with the Hague original “Friday Night At The Be-Bop Club”, the title representing a celebration of the composer’s own promotional enterprise. Paced by pianist Blomfield the piece presents a genuine big band sound with subtle horn voicings and arrangements. There’s a sophistication about the writing, with its command of colour, texture and dynamics that demands that the ensemble be thought of as a ‘jazz orchestra’. The featured soloists here include Luke Annesley on alto sax and Raph Clarkson on trombone, who both deliver assured and fluent offerings. There’s also an extended section featuring just the horns as the rhythm section temporarily drops out. A rousing, but sophisticated opening number is crowned by an extended drum feature from the excellent Mark Whitlam,  a versatile musician whose playing has represented the backbone of many a Bristolian jazz project.

Riaan Vosloo’s bass introduces “The Displaced”, another Hague original that exhibits similar virtues to the opener. This time the featured horn soloists are the versatile trumpeter Nick Malcolm and tenor saxophonist Ben Waghorn, Hague’s colleague in the Dave Jones quintet. Also featured is the dynamic Whitlam, again emerging from the ‘engine room’ and once more threatening to steal the show.

The first non-original is a lively arrangement of the Courtney Pine composition “Underground”, introduced by Whitlam and featuring punchy, swinging horn lines and a rasping, but agile, baritone sax solo from Kevin Figes. He’s followed by the incisive sounds of Keith Morgan’s alto.

“The Long And The Short Of It” offers Hague his first opportunity as a soloist, his trumpet soaring fluently as he shares the features with Waghorn’s earthy tenor. Both solos are framed inside another terrific big band arrangement.

The rousing and raunchy “Uncle Fester” features another powerful drumming performance from Whitlam behind featured soloists Annesley (alto sax) and Jonny Bruce (trumpet), the latter delivering some stunning vocalised sounds and some dazzling high register playing. Bruce’s solo elicits a highly enthusiastic response from the crowd before Whitlam launches into another rousing drum feature.

“Downhill Struggle” introduces a Latin-esque element to the proceedings, with Blomfield and Whitlam making strong and distinctive rhythmic contributions. The featured horn soloists are Waghorn on tenor, with another powerful and fluent contribution, plus Clarkson on trombone, who exhibits similar qualities during the course of a rousing solo. Blomfield, whose playing is often at the heart of the piece, is given his head for a mercurial piano solo and there’s some dramatic high register trumpet playing towards the close, probably Bruce again.

Three covers follow. Assuming the album is sequenced in the same running order that the concert was performed it was probably considered to be the appropriate time for the audience to be given ‘something that they know’ after all those originals. First up is an arrangement of the George Gershwin tune “My Man’s Gone Know”, which features a gentler, less raucous arrangement than some of the pieces immediately preceding it. Not that it’s in any way lacking in terms of energy and swing. Blomfield again plays a prominent role and is a featured soloist alongside trumpeter Nick Malcolm.

Next we have “All God’s Children Got Rhythm” (Jurmann / Kahn / Kaper), a sturdy slice of genuine big band swing featuring joyous solos from Waghorn on tenor and leader Hague on trumpet.

Bobby Timmons’ “Moanin’” is an absolute jazz classic and this rousing and swinging big band arrangement more than does it justice. There’s more bravura high register trumpeting from Bruce as he shares the solos with tenor saxophonist Ruth Hammond.

The band sign off with the fast paced original “Cheeseberger”, another vehicle for Whitlam but also a final showcase from Blomfield with a typically inventive and idiosyncratic piano solo. There are also ‘section features’ for the trombone and trumpet sections, with the four members of each playing a few solo bars in addition to whipping up a collective storm. Whitlam features strongly throughout with a series of ebullient drum breaks and then gets a full on solo towards the close.

Despite the acknowledged technical shortcomings the sound is still very good and the recording does indeed capture the excitement of this impressive live performance from the Andy Hague Big Band and it’s good to have it made commercially available. The playing is excellent throughout and there are some superb individual solos from some of Bristol’s finest musicians. As alluded to previously Hague’s original writing is also genuinely impressive and it’s also good to hear so much of it.

“Live At The Lantern” represents a brilliant souvenir of a very exciting live event for those who were lucky enough to be there on the night. But it’s also a highly enjoyable listening experience for the rest of us and it’s been a pleasure to hear it. Well done to Andy Hague and to all concerned.

I’d love to see the Andy Hague Big Band play live although I suspect that performance opportunities are probably limited. I reckon they’d be a good fit for the annual Bath Jazz Weekend event – provided that Nod Knowles can fit them all in at Widcombe Social Club.

“Live At The Lantern”, plus other Andy Hague recordings available here;
http://www.andyhague.co.uk/index_files/MP3s.htm

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