Reviews
Frank Brooker's Happy Chappies (9th July 2014)
The Happy Chappies brought a flavour of the older style of jazz to The Cas and gave an illustration of why musicians talk of going to 'play' rather than 'work'. These chappies were lighthearted, high spirited and enthusiastic.
Led by Frank Brooker, tenor sax and clarinet, Greg Wadman, trumpet and flugelhorn, Phil Kampen, double bass, Jim Wright, banjo and Rod 'Animal' MacNamara on drums, they played a generous twenty two numbers.
Although the heart of their repertoire are tunes associated with traditional jazz, much thought had gone towards finding less obvious numbers to play. There was plenty of variety from other periods of jazz history too, including two Ellington compositions, one from Count Basie and a Beatles song. We heard two more recent pieces also, written by Dollar Brand and Branford Marsalis.
Whatever they played was done with verve and energy. Each musician had many opportunities to show their skills. Greg's playing was excellent whether on open horn, muted or using the 'wah-wah' plunger. Frank's clarinet skills were delightful, and in swing tenor mode he was great. The rhythm section were very talented and didn't put a foot wrong during the whole session.
The applause at the end of the evening was very warm and enthusiastic and I heard many approving comments.
Dick Armstrong
