Paul Munnery Hootie and the Gang
Ceri Williams (t) Paul Munnery (tr) Mike Wills (reeds) Hugh Roberts (reeds) Henry Davis (p) Rachel Hayward (g, vib) Tony Sharp (b) Nick Ward (d)
This potent new ensemble projects the spirit of Kansas City in the 1930s by exploring the output of the pioneer bands who made it such a vibrant centre of jazz excellence. Here it was that musicians, in the middle of a depression, enjoyed regular employment; for an outrageously corrupt civic administration saw to it that the slump crippling the rest of the world was not going to prevent its politicians, citizens and visitors from having a good time.
Audiences can look forward to being blown away by the blues-drenched, riff-driven propulsive swing inspired by KayCee’s star soloists – Lester Young, Hot Lips Page, Eddie Durham and the young Charlie Parker – and the bands of Count Basie, Bennie Moten, Walter Page and Jay McShann (whose nickname “Hootie” this band has borrowed).
Between numbers a pithy narrative outlines the colourful background to all this creativity; the serpentine negotiations between politicians and gangsters, and the activities of the larger than life characters who plied their illicit wares, ran the joints and played their music through the long Kansas city nights. Irresistible!
Abbreviations: as alto sax; b acoustic bass ; bjo banjo; bsax bass sax; cl clarinet, ct cornet; d drums; eb electric bass; eg electric guitar; fl flute; flg flugel horn; g guitar; org organ; p piano : sousa sousaphone; t = trumpet; tr trombone; ts tenor sax; viol violin; voc voice.