Stax Night at the Proms - BBC4 this Friday

[magee]

bassace - that's interesting, I'll compare and contrast the Mingus one with the big band one from Friday.
You're right, they can't exactly have a 10-piece band and call it a Prom, but I'm not convinced Stax is the best choice for a Prom. Smacks a bit of forcing something into a slot it doesn't belong in.

The Jaywalker - I was very surprised too to hear that it was the product of five days of rehearsal. It really didn't sound like it. I appreciate it's possible for bigger groups to be energetic, invigorating, exciting: it just doesn't happen very often, so why did they try?
It's like when pop or indie types get a big orchestra involved. I understand it's fun for the star and they feel all special, but it rarely improves the music.

[lowdown]

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1504522349' post='3365375']
Big flappy orchestra? I thought the great thing was how such a big orchestra was so together and managed to swing. Yes, a small group would probably have been more appropriate and involving but its place would have been at Ronnie's. This, after all, was a Prom performance, a season of orchestral performances.

Contrast the Mingus Prom with the big band concert that preceded Stax: two big bands that couldn't swing with trumpet sections on the verge of being out of control. And compère (commere?) Claire Teal outdoing Jules in the forced jollity stakes.
[/quote]

Absolutely.

[quote name='magee' timestamp='1504520681' post='3365349']
I'm surprised to see so much praise for the Mingus one the previous week. What about it did people like?
[/quote]

Outstanding arrangements in their own right, plus some good soloing (although I didn't get off on Lou Pellegrino).
The arranging from 'llja Reijnoud' on 'Hora Decubitus' was a master class in Big Band Harmony.
Yeah, I agree that there were some 'Flappy'? moments, but on the whole, I thought it worked well. (my opinion or course).

[Chrismanbass]

Had a couple of hours to kill on a plane this weekend so watched this In general the BBC mix wasn't too bad

(hot tip the R3 mix is generally better for these kinds of things according to my friend working on the gig)

actually listening on my headphones (AT ATH M50's) the bass sounded too prominent in the mix and I wasn't a fan of the tone.

Some dodgy playing from SC IMO as well he seemed to get taken by surprise about soloing during the band intros section and

there was a fluff in the intro to soul man too.

James Morrison was a surprise highlight for me, I'm not a fan of TJ at the best of times and to hear that he's not very well

doesn't surprise me.

Quite a few faces in the band I recognised from working at Ronnies all top players so the excuse that they were under rehearsed

doesn't really ring true to me. What seems more likely is that the older faces are used to freestyling gigs a bit more and threw

them a curveball while on stage causing the band to have to react which with a bigger ensemble like that isn't an easy thing to

do.

Edited September 4, 2017 by Chrismanbass