Monte Carlo Jazz Ensemble

November 11, 2014 with Robin Verdier leader/piano, Bob MacInnis cornet, John Clark alto sax, Craig Ball clarinet, Al Bernard tuba, Bill Reynolds drums

Robin Verdier’s Monte Carlo Jazz Ensemble brought us back to the fast paced, energetic music and dances of  the optimistic 1920’s. New styles of music and dances evolved.  They were an escape from the horror of war, and an opportunity to release pent up emotions created by the restricted lifestyles forced on the public by the war effort.  Ragtime which had been popular during and after the war was suited to the new music tempos and so it flourished.

Robin Verdier, our own erudite Rag Time pianist, is well versed in this music.   The musicians perform his arrangements in sensitive, sophisticated Ensemble.

They Called It Dixieland began this momentous evening.  Mine All Mine, a tune composed by Fats Waller that was not associated with Fats because Fletcher Henderson recorded it first in 1927.  Excellent solos.

Bob MacInnis on cornet

1925 Hotsy Totsy Now with Bob’s fine cornet enriched by piano’s soft notes, tuba in the background.

Then we were privileged to hear the World’s first performance of Robin’s arrangement of Irving Berlin’s 1927 Shaking the Blues.  Marvelous!

Moving ahead (for them) to 1938 with Fats Waller’s I’ll Dance At Your Wedding with fabulous cornet, smooth alto sax, piano trickling between solos.

Robin Verdier                              (file photo)

Rags were popular back in 1902, when Scott Joplin wrote Elite Syncopation.  At that time Rags were played on the streets of New Orleans.   Our own Scott Joplin, Robin Verdier,  handles the difficult syncopated melodic line with ease.  He played to a large, appreciative crowd!

A rarity, a collaboration between Cook’s Blame It On The Blues with Sidney Bechet’s Quincy Street Stomp, showed more fabulous ensemble, and clarinet skillfully trading 4’s with alto sax.

Bill Reynolds

1924 Alabamy Bound, adept in this art of drumming, Bill Reynolds was tapping on the wood block.  Bill’s father, recently deceased Ed Reynolds, had a big influence on Robin Verdier and was responsible for at least five of the tunes this evening.

Al Bernard

Bill Reynolds’ drums and Al Bernard’s tuba kept the rhythm burning.  Albie’s tuba sometimes becomes an extension of the Ensemble.

Dave’s drum introduced a 50’s jazz tune, Nullabor, probably named after a desert in Australia – maybe an aborigine song, with heavy drum accents. Nice clarinet by Craig, then outstanding ensemble, closing with more thunderous drums.

1927 Anabelle Lee was one of Ed Reynolds’ tunes.  Ensemble played in stop time in Sonny Clay’s 1931 Cho-King, featuring Bill’s choke cymbals.

My Baby Just Cares For Me 1930, That’s Where You’re Wrong 1929.   Everybody’s Doing The Charleston 1925.  Tiny Parham’s Now That I Found You 1930.  Con Conrad’s 1921 Moonlight included a nice tuba solo with piano backing.

I Wish’t I Was In Peoria, Walter Donaldson’s I’ve Had My Moments.  In Our Cottage of Love, Down Where The Sun Goes Down.

Mule Face Blues, nimble fingers flew across piano, Reynolds applying fine choke cymbal and drumming, the Front Line in distinguished ensemble that sets this group apart.

Monte Carlo Front Line: Bob MacInnis, Craig Ball, John Clark

They closed with When Lindy Comes Marching Home, written by George M. Cohan for pilot Charles Lindburgh’s  successful solo flight across the ocean.   The ensemble interpolated other Cohen tunes – we recognized Yankee Doodle Dandy.

This was a momentous moment for many reasons: John Clark had just returned from his Wolverine Jazz Band’s great reception at the Arizona Classic Jazz Festival.   This was Bob MacInnis’s last performance for this year in New England – he left for Florida the next day.  We’ll miss him until Spring.  And the future of Jazz at the Sherborn Inn is uncertain, as it is under new ownership in January 2015.  Just in case, we are searching for new venues.

We certainly hope to hear the Monte Carlo Jazz Ensemble again, either here at the Sherborn Inn or at a new venue.  Stay tuned.