Little Steps press release 16/4/2007
“Little Steps” is Walsall Jazz Orchestra’s third CD and marks another significant moment in the thirty year history of this unique jazz ensemble.
In 1975, John Hughes formed the Walsall Youth Jazz Orchestra (WYJO) which rapidly became one of the UK’s leading youth bands. The Arguelles brothers, Martin Shaw, Richard Iles, Nick Purnell, Duncan Mackay and Pete Cater were among the fine musicians passed through its ranks. WYJO still exists, John Hughes still at the helm supporting the development of a new generation of talented youngsters.
In 1994 Walsall Jazz Orchestra (WJO) was formed around a nucleus of former
WYJO players, some of whom had been in the very first edition of the band.
Since then the orchestra has produced two critically acclaimed recordings, “Watershed” (1997)
and “Devil in the Detail” (2001), and has performed throughout
the UK and a broad, including the Montreux Jazz Festival and London’s
Royal Festival Hall.
“Little Steps” marks an important point: after thirty years the
orchestra has now fully found its own voice, it has been a period of continuous
general growth. At first the bands reputation was based on commercially available
arrangements of Chick Corea and Pat Metheny pieces and standards, gradually
its book filled with originals given to the orchestra or commissioned for it:
pieces by Dave Backmore, Mike Gibbs, Julian Arguelles, Dave Johnson and increasingly
by the bands pianist, Tim Amann.
More than anything else, Tim Amann’s compositions have given the orchestra
a unique identity. “Little Steps” contains four new Amann compositions.
Typically they are built around strong grooves that exploit WJO’s dynamic
rhythm section with drummer Carl Hemmingsley at its heart. Plenty of room is
left for extended solos from guest Martin Shaw as well as the bands regulars
Sam Rogers, Rik Sandford, Hemmingsley and Amann himself.
“Little Steps” itself shows clear influences from Steely Dan to Miles Davis, “Sild” is a twelve bar blues with odd bars all over the place “Sleepwalking” with its laid back groove, evokes just that while “Solstice” reflects Amann’s interest in Bretton folk music. The other two pieces are from outsiders. Thomas Haines, a young composer from Coventry, has contributed “All in Good Time”, a demanding extended work built around recurring themes and dramatic rhythmic changes. Influenced by the writing of Kenny Wheeler and Maria Schneider, Haines has produced a valuable addition to the bands repertoire. “Hassan’s Dream” a little performed Benny Golson tune is played in an arrangement for the band by American Nicholas Beaumont is the most traditional big band chart on the CD., It contributes splendidly to a programme of musical variety unified by the distinctive voice of the orchestra.
Guest soloist Martin Shaw joined WYJO at the age of twelve and has gone on to become one of the UK’s most in demand trumpeters whether playing with the finest of our jazz and pop musicians, doing session work or teaching at prestigious music colleges. He solos throughout with fabulous sound and imagination, displaying warmth and technical virtuosity.
So, “Little Steps” is a giant step forward for WJO and a welcome tonic for those who appreciate adventurous music from large jazz ensembles which does not sacrifice the looseness of a small jazz group.