The Jazz Scene of Today

[Forrrce]

I saw bits of the Stan Tracey documentary last week (taped it anyway, I now archive good documentaries on DVD) but will watch in full soon. He's not my first choice in the UK arena (I prefer small combos as opposed to big bands) but I do have a few of his LPs (including 'Under Milk Wood' - which to be fair, never got re-issued on vinyl - I'm pretty sure. Worth noting that the Landsdowne Jazz series, in which this LP is featured, is one of the most collectable UK jazz labels, alongside the likes of Tempo, Deram and Columbia and these labels seldom embarked on re-issue programs, though this is changing slightly). Also worth noting that Tracey's son, Clark, is an absolutely s**t-hot drummer.

As for boy-band looking (and sounding) Jamie Callum, his CD will no doubt take pride of place next to the last Diane Krall, Norah Jones and the highly questionable Rod Stewart and Robbie Wlliams 'swing' efforts. Not dissing anyone here - but you'll know what I mean if I say, 'tokenism'...

[QUINNY]

Clark is a good drummer (probably in the lower premier division UK wise) and it's has been really heartening to see a father and son who are able to work with each other. I imagine it could be particularly fraught if say the rest of the band thought the son wasn't up to scratch.
To be fair, Sebastian De Krom (Jamie Cullum's drummer) and Geoff Gasgoyne (bass) are both excellent players that might just give Jamie a musical lift up. Sebastian De Krom played one of the best drum solos I've ever heard when he was last at Southampton Jazz Club with Pete King. Geoff Gasgoyne has a reputation of being forthright, so it will be interesting to see if he lasts the course, but I wish the two of them a lot of luck and hope they make a few bucks.