Mike Hatchard deserves applause for summoning a stellar line-up to the latest in the current series of Jazz Breakfasts, continuing in Shoreham until September.
A multi-instrumentalist with a glint in his eye and an easy wit, Hatchard, who played piano and electric guitar, enlisted revered tenor Greg Heath – a tourmate of everyone from Roy Ayers to Van Morrison – and Paul Eshelby, a master trumpeter who once accompanied Ella Fitzgerald and Nelson Riddle on tours of the US.
Eshelby recalled playing the stylish Lullaby Of Birdland while in the US with jazz piano great George Shearing, and the song was given an ultra-relaxed panache under his guidance.
The band’s relatively precocious backing duo both enjoyed repeated teasing for their youth. But up-and-coming drummer Ollie Boorman and hastily-recruited bassist Oz Deshane provided classy foils for their experienced cohorts, with the latter’s fleetness of fingers evidenced on Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s timeless 1942 standard, A Night In Tunisia.
Another tune from the period, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, allowed Heath to shine during a trumpet lament evoking wartime romanticism, while Hatchard – always one for a tale – remembered an encounter with Dean Martin which proved true the singer’s taste for a drink.
Four stars
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