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

John Shillito has long been one of the best trumpeters in the business and a full house welcomed his select six up from deepest Devon and were not disappointed!

His many vocals vary from the Crosby to the Armstrongesque and his trumpet mastery is complemented with the alto and baritone saxes and clarinet of the well traveled John Wurr and veteran trombonist Bobby Fox back on dry land after playing the cruise liners.

“Sentimental Journey”, “Be My Baby Tonight” and “Let’s Have a Party” had the vocals in full flow! The solo banjo of John Whitlock backed by bass guitarist Bob Jarvis provided a different “Lover Come Back To Me” a powerful alto sax gave a new slant to “Saturday Night Function” whilst the front line gave full justice to Bechet's “Dans La Rue De L’antibes” and “ Le Merchant De Poission”.

“Caravan” brought the best out of Wurr's alto, backed by Whitlock’s guitar, bass guitar and a neat integral drum solo from Derek Maughan.

The wide range of Shillito’s vocal chords were really to the fore in this second set – “Nobody Knows” gave the Sunday spiritual feel, “A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening” produced all the right musical tones with soft trumpet, baritone sax and muted trombone “Tipitipitin” a tale of Mexican love with clarinet and rhythm swinging the song along, and a bluesy completeness of trumpet and muted trombone complementing Shillito’s version of Jelly Roll Morton’s “Big Lip Blues”.

Into the final set, and it was Armstrong’s “Give Me a Kiss to Build a Dream On” with the band in full flow in support! The only pure instrumental, “Wolverine Blues”, clarinet driven, was followed by Morton’s “Don’t You Leave Me Here”. Rarely played and sung - very acceptable.

“It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie” heralded Shilito’s trip down to New Orleans! “I Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans” fused alto sax with gentle trombone. “Lets Go To New Orleans” found powerful trumpet driving alto with heavy rhythm and “See the Mardigras” had the room rocking before “Dream Of Me” brought a great night to a late end!

John Shillito
Sunday 3 February 2008