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Report of the 02's British Music Experience by John Fordham

The British trad boom – that fervent 1950s revival of black America's early gospel, blues and New Orleans jazz by a coterie of baggy-jumpered obsessives – had the nation dancing when the Stones were still in junior school. Trad's crucial influence on the incubation of 1960s British R&B is the reason why Chris Barber, Kenny Ball and Acker Bilk – all touching 80 – were reconvened for the 02's British Music Experience exhibition.

The venue, with its Disney World slickness, seemed a weird place to celebrate a phenomenon that had begun in the hands of an amateur band of Vickers machine-gun makers in a Kent pub at the end of the second world war. But the Chris Barber big band played a captivating first half of vivacious 1920s' Ellington polyphony, guitar-driven rural blues, grainy close-harmonised gospel songs and incisive solos. They also pared themselves down to a tight New Orleans sextet to recapture the garrulous revivalist sound of their birth in 1954, with Barber's trombone retaining its old mellow-toned, deftly phrased charm.

Clarinetist Acker Bilk and trumpeter Kenny Ball then took a set each, with Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band engagingly galvanised by the excellent Armstrong-inspired trumpeter Enrico Tomasso, and the leader's own fluid, deep-toned sound sporadically easing into its stride. Bilk had a good line in deadpan gags, but wearily donned his famous bowler hat and ran through the inevitable Stranger on the Shore as if keen to get to the end. Kenny Ball's band then unpacked a mix of his 60s hits, a jazz feature on Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor for his pianist Hugh Ledigo, and a vigorous percussion display for drummer Nick Millward. The Louis Prima Jungle Book hit I Wanna Be Like You was hammy, but the million-selling Midnight in Moscow still invoked its old warmly folksy.

To Book the 3bs or any of the 3bs please contact Les Squires on 08450-008-007
 

New Tour

Kenny Ball is a legend. Probably the greatest test of an artist's success is his durability. Kenny is now a genuine institution, and the most successful jazz trumpet player this side of the Atlantic. His landmark recordings of the 1960s such as 'Midnight in Moscow' catapulted him to worldwide fame and since then he has become a living legend. The great Louis Armstrong said of Kenny "This man is a genius."

The Jive Aces are the UK's top Jive & Swing band. Renowned for their hot, swinging music and high-energy stage show, they play songs made famous by such greats as Bobby Darin, Louis Prima and Sammy Davis Jnr as well as featuring a selection of superb originals. A sell-out in their own right at many theatres and the Edinburgh Fringe. The Stage says "Simply sensational. The Jive Aces manage great freshness yet maintain an authentic accurate sound."

The show consists of: first half by the Jive Aces, a twenty minute intermission, then Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen for the second half.  The show ends with Jive Aces coming back on with Kenny for a sensational finale with both bands.
Note: this is two full bands. I am taking bookings from Autumn 2009 into 2010