Reporter: Tony Sheldon
Date online: 12/06/2008

The Jazz Gentlemen play a variety of music from the traditional to the big band and very good it is too! Led by bass player Keith Allcock this Merseyside ensemble features the trumpet/ flugelhorn and vocals of Derek Skepper who, very prominent in the first set followed “You Took Advantage of Me” with “The Preacher” and then “Baby You’re Exceptional To Me”. A neat duo with Maurice Gavan’s piano on flugelhorn in “Sleepy Time Gal” and guest Terry Brunets trombone accompanying Skepper in “Big Butter and Egg Man”!

“Big House Blues” brought out talents of Brunt’s trombone and Terry Porter’s clarinet, and Porter’s clarinet led the way in “Royal Garden Blues” with enhancing contributions from Allcock, Gavan and the drums of Dick Nancarrow!

A very different second set featured Porter’s clarinet in rarely played Benny Goodman’s “A Smooth One” Porters sax prominent in cameo duos in a fine arrangement of “I’ve Found A New Baby” A unique Brunt arrangement of “Mood Indigo” muted with bass interludes and “Opus One”, a U.S.A forces radio favourite with plenty of sax variations, piano and driving brass!

With much to enjoy, the last set featured Skepper’s tonsils in “Ballin The Jack” “How Deep Is The Ocean” and “Bye Bye Blackbird”, plus powerful trumpet on “That Dada Strain” and multi contributions with a fine duo of Gavan’s piano and Nancarrow’s drumsticks in Sidney Bechets’ tuneful “In The Streets of Antibes” but standing out in a presentation of excellence was a most unusual arrangement of the dreamy “Out of Nowhere” Porter on flute, Gavan’s sound of the vibes, the soft Nancarrow drumbeat and the gentle strings of Allcock’s bass – WOW!

The Jazz Gentlemen
The Broadfield Hotel
Sunday 28 May 2006