Arran’s musical ‘Island treasure’ triumphs with magnificent debut recording
Arran’s Jazz Café band have just released their first recording, entitled Just My Size, and it comes as no surprise that it’s a complete success. It’s a culmination of their increased presence and popularity, largely achieved by expanding from their traditional home of Whiting Bay to perform gigs all around the island and indeed, a slot on the Waverley cruiser earlier this year.
The band was formed in 2000 after a letter sent to the local paper from trombonist John Gibson, bemoaning the fact that there were all sorts of musical groups on Arran except jazz. It started as a fledgling outfit (including Jim Donaldson and his amazing one-string bass, for those that remember) and gradually built up a loyal following over the years. With the line up present on this CD having stayed constant for some considerable time, the team work that experience brings is very much evident on this recording.
In recent times, the band’s repertoire has vastly increased and a selection of their most popular items appear on this new recording, coming in at just a minute shy of an hour’s entertainment. It also comes complete with sleeve notes giving a potted history of the band, and quotes from fans (The quote from ‘DB, Kilmory’ had me laughing out loud, but I’m not going to reprint it here!)
The Jazz Café Band are a big draw on Arran and with good reason. Their versatility and rhythmic vitality with a wide range of jazz standards is astonishing for a purely amateur group of musicians. In recent years, one of the band’s major ‘discoveries’ is cornettist Biff Simpson’s talent as a vocalist: exuberantly exciting in ‘Steamroller Blues’ and serenadingly silky smooth in ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’. ‘When Biff puts a song over, you know you’ve been sung to’, says the sleeve notes. I really couldn’t put it better myself.
The main instrumental features on clarinet (Alison Prince), trombone (John Gibson) and cornet (Biff Simpson) are slick, tastefully done and well managed, and it’s underpinned by some superb work by the ‘rhythm section’ of Tom Buchan (guitar) John Tilbury (electric bass) and Malcolm Kerr (drums).
The success of this recording has been assured by the painstaking efforts of Jon Hollingworth, who recorded, mixed and produced it all.
It’s wonderful to now have a permanent reminder of the band’s versatility and sheer entertainment value. This recording deserves to sell and sell, and find them even more fans. The CD can be bought from selected retail outlets on the island, Arran Events website and band members. It costs £10 and is worth every penny!
Dave Payn
