Music / Jazz
Review: The Andy Hague Big 5-0 Band
Cresswell Theatre, Friday 9 October)
If you’ve done all the right groundwork then even something as complex as a one-off jazz big band gig can look effortless. In many ways Andy Hague had been doing the groundwork for this one since he joined the Bristol jazz scene in the 80s and the event was a joint celebration both of the strength and diversity of Bristol jazz throughout that time as well as Andy’s own ‘big 5-0’ birthday. Thus it was a very positive (and near capacity) audience that faced the casually dressed ensemble in the brightly modern Cresswell Theatre for a set of (mainly) Andy’s compositions.
They kicked off with Manic Mollusc, a lightly Cuban flavoured piece with muted trumpets and soft brass harmonies that made for a warm greeting, with Andy’s emollient flugelhorn slipping into a neat flamenco payoff. The piece also featured Ben Waghorn’s stinging alto sax, destined to emerge as a recurring highlight of the evening, as was Jim Blomfield’s piano which led off the Monk-ish Blue Rinse with typically unexpected twists of style and harmony before the ensemble sound took over and Kevin Figes delivered his first baritone sax solo of the evening, the light bluesy touch of his style in marked contrast with the heavy instrument and the weightier New Orleans energy of trombonist Nick Attwell. For the oddest moment of the gig Andy had arranged a brass blowout version of the jaunty Bring Me Sunshine, for which Jonny Bruce’s trumpet channelled a classic Louis Armstrong sound to great effect.
With 16 respected musicians on stage it was generous of Andy’s writing to leave the players space for extended solos, something which developed through the evening and allowed the musical personalities to colour the pieces. Thus the easy rumba rhythm of Sweet One acquired a thoughtful depth thanks to Nick Malcolm’s searching trumpet and Nicholas Dover’s reflective tenor sax, while the looser swing of Friday Night at the Bebop Club fuelled some pure energy from Ben Waghorn and Mark Whitlam’s drums. Andy himself shone on Know It? I Wrote it?, a slow-burn belter of a tune with his ostinato flugelhorn surfing the great swell of the full band sound.
The same could be said of the finale and the demented blues of Cheeseberger, featuring a frantic sequence of solo players that eventually left most of the trumpet section to wrangle the piece to submission. It was a joyous moment which had even the famously dour Mr Hague grinning and it was a fitting climax to a celebration of one of Bristol music’s under-sung heroes.
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