PERHAPS THE MOST concise yet comprehensive music history class was delivered on Wednesday evening.
In the lavishly lush ”classroom” of Holders Hill, the Jazz Repertory of Britain presented 100 Years Of Jazz In 99 Minutes. The versatile six-piece band comprised Pete Long, Georgina Jackson, Enrico Tomasso, John Colianni, Jay Darwish and Richard Prite. The evening of great jazz was the penultimate event on the Virgin Atlantic Holders Season calendar.
Tunes from the king of ragtime Scott Joplin and the heart of the Dixieland set the scene for the evening of music. Moving through the transformation of jazz influences, the six-piece band travelled through New York, Chicago and Brazil, playing well known standards from Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.
The ladies of jazz were also a part of the lesson, brought to life through renditions by Georgina Jackson. Her take of Billie Holiday’s Lover Man was one of the clear favourites of the evening.
The 1970s were represented with big Afros, glittery shades and a sunny Weather Report. Some members of the audience also took heed to Jazz Repertory’s call to “shake that thing.”
The 1980s to the present was epitomised in one song – South African Abdullah Ibrahim’s The Wedding. And in appreciation of a well delivered lesson, grateful “students” rose to their feet in standing ovation at the end of the class.
