Chop Idols, The Open Hearth Pub, Griffithstown, Pontypool, 22/05/2015.

This was my first visit to the Open Hearth since November 2014 when I reviewed a performance by the talented young London based alto saxophonist Samuel Eagles and his quartet. Tonight the focus was more firmly on local talent and a quintet spearheaded by the twin trumpet front line of Ceri Williams and Gethin Liddington, both popular and familiar figures on the jazz scene in Wales. The co-leaders received excellent support from Richard West on piano, the increasingly ubiquitous Ashley John Long and double bass and promoter Martin Fisher at the drums.

Under the name Jazz MF Fisher has picked up the baton discarded by the now seemingly defunct Torfaen Jazz Society and has created an increasingly successful monthly jazz night at the Open Hearth. There was an excellent turn out this evening to witness these local heroes deliver two sets of vibrant jazz that featured imaginative arrangements allied to some terrific playing from all five participants. 

Before settling on their current band name Williams and Liddington performed a number of gigs under the name Little Big Horn, a tongue in cheek reference to the very different physiques of the co-leaders, the diminutive, puckish Williams and the man mountain that is Gethin Liddington. Despite their disparate statures both men are united by a love of jazz of all kinds and by the fact that both are very talented trumpet and flugelhorn players, Chop Idols indeed.

Williams plays right across the jazz spectrum from trad with his Good Old Spit and Dribble Jass Band to funk and fusion with his Project X. Liddington is equally versatile and often plays alongside Williams in the latter’s New Era Reborn Brass Band. He’s a regular member of trombonist Gareth Roberts’ quintet and I’ve also seen or heard him performing with bands led by bassist Paula Gardiner and pianist Dave Jones and as a guest soloist with the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama Big Band. Liddington also has impeccable avant garde credentials having played and recorded with ensembles led by pianist Keith Tippett and saxophonist Paul Dunmall. 

Williams has described Chop Idols as “our homage to the trumpet greats” and although the quintet’s repertoire is drawn from jazz standards associated with such seminal jazz figures as Dizzy Gillespie and Clark Terry there’s no sense of mere pastiche, Williams, Liddington and their colleagues really do put their own stamp on the music. In the main the arrangements are by Williams who admitted to borrowing some of the ideas of the American trumpeter and arranger Rich Willey with regard to the numerous trumpet and flugel duets that populated the set.

Things got off to a rousing start with “Slow Boat To China” with Williams and Liddington stating the theme in unison on trumpets before embarking on their individual solos, Liddington going first. We also heard solos from West at the piano, actually a Roland FP4 keyboard, and Long on double bass before we were treated to a series of dazzling trumpet exchanges for which Williams acknowledged the inspiration of the aforementioned Mr. Willey. I’m not sure whether it was Willey or Williams himself who retitled the piece “Speedboat To Singapore” in recognition of the speed of its trajectory.

Long’s bass introduced Dizzy Gillespie’s enduringly popular “A Night In Tunisia”, subsequently joined by piano and drums before Williams picked out the familiar melodic motif on muted trumpet.
Liddington took the first solo on open horn trumpet, a feature that included some dynamic high register trumpeting, something of a Liddington trademark. Williams switched to flugel horn for his solo, less dramatic but equally fluent. The youthful looking West impressed with his piano solo - at first I took him for a music student at the RWCMD but subsequent enquiries revealed that he’s actually twenty six and has a day job as a physics teacher at a school in Penarth. He was the only member of the quintet I’d not seen play before and for me he represented an exciting new discovery, his contribution was excellent throughout. Long is a far more familiar figure and is probably the most in demand bass player in South Wales. He’s also an incredibly versatile musician playing right across the jazz spectrum as well as being a highly respected classical double bassist. I’ve seen him many times in various jazz contexts and he’s a truly inspired soloist, his playing just keeps getting better and better. 

Another Gillespie tune, the blues “Birk’s Works” was introduced by the rhythm section and featured a front line of Williams on flugel and Liddington on muted trumpet. Williams took the first solo on flugel with Liddington following on trumpet, his Harmon mute sound recalling Miles Davis. Both solos included passages where the soloist was accompanied by Long’s bass only, an interesting and innovative arranging touch. West’s solo included a passage of unaccompanied piano and there were also features for Long and Fisher who climaxed the piece with a series of lively drum breaks.

The ballad “I Can’t Get Started” was a feature for Liddington and his unusual and distinctive four valved flugel horn. The extra valve and the oversized bell of the instrument (“more like the size you’d find on a trombone” Gethin told me later) added a delightful depth and resonance to his sound as he soloed gracefully followed by West at the piano who embellished his solo with a series of classically inspired flourishes. Long’s pizzicato solo was followed by a closing flugel horn cadenza that also saw Long temporarily taking up his bow. The bassist is a supremely talented arco player but this aspect of his playing was rarely appropriate and thus seldom seen in the context of this particular group.

An excellent first set ended with the quintet racing and romping through “Another Chew”, a Rich Willey inspired variant on the standard “There’ll Never Be Another You”. Twin trumpets stated the theme with Williams taking the top line as Fisher and his rhythm colleagues provided a scalding, propulsive swing. Williams took the first fiery solo followed by Liddington who played a short but highly animated unaccompanied passage as the rhythm section temporarily dropped out. West followed at the piano and was succeeded by Long whose super-fast solo was dazzling in its agility and dexterity. The co-leaders returned for a dazzling series of energetic, high register trumpet exchanges from the Willey book of arrangements. A sizzling end to a terrific first set.

The second half began with Williams and Liddington paying tribute to Clark Terry with “Hum”, a modal piece written by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer that had been played by a group featuring Terry and the composer. Liddington took the first solo on muted trumpet, again sounding broadly similar to Miles Davis. Williams followed on flugel and there were also features for West and Long.

Rich Willey’s arrangement of “Pennies From Heaven”, which he re-titled “Nickels From Nirvana” was recorded by Terry and began here with the sound of twin unmuted trumpets. Williams took the first solo on trumpet before engaging in a series of Willey inspired exchanges with Liddington who had now switched to flugel. Liddington then made his own statement on flugel before being succeeded by West at the piano. The rhythm section then dropped out for a flugel duet which featured Liddington holding his horn upside down, a piece of showmanship probably inspired by Willey’s writing, before Long wrapped up the individual features.

Williams’ solo feature saw him playing flugel on Victor Young’s ballad “Weaver Of Dreams”, the arrangement based on Freddie Hubbard’s recorded version. Velvety flugel combined with purring bass and Fisher’s delicately brushed drums before West almost stole the scene with an expansive piano solo that again evidenced his classical leanings. The piece was crowned by a duet between Williams’ flugel and Long’s bass. Williams used to do a fine job of running Torfaen Jazz Society but since giving up his role as a promoter to concentrate on his trumpeting and educational work his playing has just got better and better.

An arrangement by Bob Brookmeyer of “The Battle Hymn of The Republic” began with an embarrassing false start - “we seem to have a conflict of keys” observed Williams, ruefully. However such was the informal and good natured spirit of the evening that nobody seemed to mind too much and on the second attempt the band really hit their straps with twin plunger muted trumpets evoking the sound of New Orleans supported by boogie woogie piano and marching band style drums. Liddington took the first solo on growling muted trumpet followed by Williams who positively seared on the open horn. An outbreak of spontaneous clapping along erupted from a delighted audience and continued through West’s rollicking piano solo.

“Just Squeeze Me” was another song associated with the recently departed Clark Terry who died in early 2015 aged ninety four. Tonight’s arrangement saw the co-leaders both starting on trumpet and even featured some highly competent vocalising from Liddington.  Nowhere near as sexy as Emily Saunders when she’d sung the same song in Brecon a few nights earlier, but nice try, Geth.
Williams then took the first instrumental solo on trumpet before handing over to Liddington. The big man’s instrumental feature saw him playing both trumpet and flugel, blowing alternative short phrases on each and effectively duetting with himself - he stopped short of the full Roland Kirk two horn thing but maybe that’s just physically impossible on the trumpet. West’s piano feature included an unaccompanied stride section which again demonstrated his mastery of a whole plethora of piano styles. It was then left to the co-leaders, now both back on trumpets, to take things storming out.

A richly deserved encore saw the quintet romping through a segue of the Charlie Parker bebop classics “Indiana” and “Donna Lee” with the co-leaders both on trumpet and sharing the solos with the excellent West at the piano.

The Chop Idols band got a terrific reception from the loyal MF Jazz audience and the evening was a triumph for all concerned including drummer/promoter Martin Fisher. It was a shame the band didn’t have any CDS available as I’m sure they would have sold very well. As far I’m aware Chop Idol have yet to record their material, which is a pity, but there is some excellent copy of a gig from Café Jazz in Cardiff on YouTube   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G36Mle0Mb0 featuring Williams, Liddington, West and a rhythm section of bassist Don Sweeney and drummer Greg Evans.

This really was a hugely enjoyable evening of dynamic, swinging jazz presented with great humour and featuring some terrific playing. The quality and inventiveness of the arrangements allied to the quality of the playing made this more than just the usual “standards at a provincial jazz club” gig and saw everybody leaving with a smile on their face. 

Williams had presented the performance with great humour and couldn’t stop himself laughing at the name of the unfortunately monikered Mr. Dick Willey - there was also an off colour reference to Dick Hyman that seemed to pass over most people’s heads.

I’ll admit to knowing nothing of Mr. Willey prior to this evening so I googled him - as you do- and found him to be a highly prolific trumpeter, band leader, arranger, educator and publisher who plays in a wide variety of bands both big and small. He’s also an enormous figure of a bloke, even larger than Liddington if the photos on his website http://www.boptism.net are to be believed.
Big Dick, indeed.
               

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