Ronnie Scotts 2004

For this second in an occasional series of tour diaries I thought I'd keep a diary for the week with my quartet at Ronnie Scotts Club, Soho, London from 18th to the 23rd October 2004. Being booked for a week at Ronnie's is one of the pinnacles of playing jazz in the UK. To play 6 nights in a row (Mon to Sat) in the same venue is a rare treat, and for it to be on the same stage that has been trodden on by Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespe, Stan Getz, Elvin Jones, Buddy Rich, Bill Evans, Ben Webster etc is quite something. The club has an amazing atmosphere and is usually sold out at least Thurs to Sun. Being in the heart of Soho in the West End and being such a legendary venue, you never know who will be in the audience. During nights I've played there, audience members have included Brian Eno, Steve Winwood, Airto Moreira, Bruce Forsyth, Keith Emerson, Bill Bruford and Arturo Sandoval - though not on the same night! So to kick off the Earth to Ether tour, we had a week playing opposite the great Cedar Walton with his fine quartet. It went something like this...

Monday-
The musicians in my quartet - Simon Colam, Andy Hamill and Marc Parnell arrived at the club around 7 pm for soundcheck and rehearsal (doors open 8.30 pm). We'd previously rehearsed with Alex Keen on bass - as we are doing gigs later in the tour with him, but not Andy Hamill , our regular bassist. Andy has played all the pieces with us before and is on the new CD so had rehearsed for that, but with everyone having crazy schedules and being so busy, tonight was the only time we could run through the set. So we soundchecked which was fine except half the PA stopped working for some reason so that had to be sorted. Ace sound engineer Miles Ashton sorted it all out. The brief rehearsal clarified a few things including some last minute chord changes to Marti - a new live track for the band. So the first set ended up being as follows - The Mystic and the Emperor, 21c Schizoid Man, The Book ie first 3 tunes of the CD. Then Sleep (solo alto flute loops track from Slow Life) , Full Moon Rising pt 2, Barking Dogs and Caravans and to end Love for Sale (with a drum solo). First set first night went well, but with room for improvement and we retired to Cafe Nero Coffee Shop in the break for the first of the many cups of coffee we'd be drinking this week. Playing at Ronnie's means there is usually some amazing top international band playing at the club as well (the format is - we do a set, they do a set, we do a set, they do a set), but one does need a break and some relaxation between our sets, so it's often off to the coffee bar to chill out. I do always make sure that I hear the other band a few times at least during the week though. There were some pretty colourful looking characters hanging around in Cafe Nero which has turned into a gay bar - with some very dressed up and made up men/women. Second set went well - then autographed some CDs then home about 2 am. A good start to the week.

Tuesday
OK. So Monday went quite well, but there was still some way to go. Some musician friends were in tonight (violinist Graham Clark and singer Liz Fletcher amongst others), so it was quite a social evening in between the music. Tonight I got to meet and chat with Cedar Walton which was really great. I have enjoyed his music for many years and used to practice playing along to his tunes. Lovely guy - very warm and friendly. For the first set tonight, I changed the order a bit. I split Barking Dogs and Love for Sale , as Love for Sale we do as a drum feature, and Barking Dogs has a big drum "roast up" at the end too. So tonight we moved Barking Dogs to before Sleep then into Full Moon Rising pt 2, with a big overlap. The ethereal flutes into the groove of Full Moon worked really well and was fun too. I think it epitomised the Earth to Ether idea- from etheral atmospheric sounds to grounded earthy groove (though in this case actually ether to earth). The set order worked and I knew we'd probably keep it like this for the week (which in fact we did). In the second set we changed the tunes a bit, adding our version of See Emily Play (by Syd Barrett) - though this was a little unfair on Simon as he had not played it before and it is a slightly off the wall arrangement. In the second set I played "Stewed Flute" - a flute free improvisation, which tonight was perhaps not so great I thought. Sometimes it just flows, and ideas follow each other naturally and the feel is just right and sometimes it just doesn't quite click. Curious. I threw in a Gong quote into the improv' and it was spotted by an audient! For Marti, Simon improvised an open free-form introduction - which was not only excellent, it proved to be great every night, and each time using completely different musical ideas and flavours - he is an amazingly imaginative, resourceful and talented piano player. We tried playing Things Change with a drum solo inserted in the coda which was interesting. It sounded very good, and Marc played a blinding solo - though I wondered whether this arrangement meant there was too much of a gap in the flute part making it disjointed, as I stop playing for the coda, then there is the big and exciting drum solo , then I come back in for only 8 bars before the piece ends. I was undecided about this though people thought it worked fine, and in fact it raised the roof in terms of applause.

Wednesday
Rollercoaster of a day. In the morning there were at least three domestic crises which was very stressful, and I was also exhausted from the late night before. In the afternoon I had a recording session at Eden, a top recording studio in Chiswick, West London. I had had a call on Monday to see if I was available to record sax and flute on some tracks for David Sylvian, the singer and composer (formerly of the band Japan). I was very excited by this as I have enjoyed his music a lot over the years. I have worked with his brother and former bandmate Steve Jansen several times before (who is fab') - and he was also involved in the project, so that was cool. The music I was asked to play on was very beautiful - deep and layered textures with interesting grooves and beautiful melodies and David Sylvian's unique voice on top. It was a real pleasure. I played alto flute and then tenor sax on a couple of tracks that were quite experimental in their nature. I was asked to do some interesting things - like play in the style of Ornette Coleman but in a completely different time feel to that on the track, then do it again even slower, then record another track of sax accompanying the first out of time one (but in time with itself) ! Well I had a go! We also tried some alto flute ambitronic flute loops on one piece and David Sylvian seemed to like that too. I 'm not sure what the album will be or what will make it to the final mix (you never know till the CD is in your hand!), but it was all very enjoyable so that was a thrill for me. Then off to town to Ronnie's. The first set on Wednesday was an absolute blinder. Everything seemed to click into place. The set orders felt right, we all knew had a feel for the pace of the sets, everyone was relaxed, yet on fire at the same time, and it just took off. This feeling of everything coming together on stage is described by different people in different ways. Some say "it was in the air that night", some say "the good fairy was with us then" some say "the planets were aligned on that gig" - and some simply say "that was a good 'un". Whichever - it happened then and there... Even Pete King the proprieter at Ronnie's said "Good set". Now when Pete King comes up to you and insults you and calls you a b******, that means he's being nice, so when he makes a compliment like that it is astonishing! Second set went well too, though perhaps not on the same level. On the way home there was a strong gale, heavy rain and high winds - but there was some magic in the air that night.

Thursday
More friends turned up for the gig including an old friend Charlie P. (and his new lady) who I hadn't seen for ages. Great to see him and his mates. Gig was good, but as the week was progressing we were all getting tired - or at least were that night. I don't think it showed though.

Friday
More serious compliments from the management tonight which was most pleasing. Cedar Walton mentioned he liked and was intrigued by the flute loops - saying he thought it was just right, not too long so the band has nothing to do, but hypnotic and unusual. Tonight I listened to Cedar's band which was really good. The music they played is what I call "jazz jazz" - straight ahead, bluesy, swinging classic quartet New York jazz. Someone in the club said to me "when people ask me what jazz is, I say "that"" - pointing to the stage. He was absolutely right. The music was perfect. The whole band was excellent - Cedar on piano, Javon Jackson on tenor sax, David Williams on bass (who particularly shone in my humble opinion - very groovy and so much "life" in his playing) and Alvin Queen on drums (what a great name!). A friend from Norway turned up who had promoted some gigs and made a private 2 DVD set of a gig I did with Gong in Stavanger, Norway in 2001. A nice production too. It was quite a surprise to see him and good to catch up. Interestingly he is also a fan of the band the Tangent who I recorded with recently.

Saturday
Another rainy night in London town. Last night of our week residency. One of my star students turned up with her family which was great. With my quartet having played the same tunes for several nights now, things were starting to happen. Open intros were extending and getting more adventurous, complex arranged sections were getting tighter and more relaxed at the same time, and the set becoming more comfortable. The segue between "Sleep" (flute loops from Slow Life) into Full Moon Rising pt 2 was especially fun and a highpoint in the set for me I think - perhaps because of the nature of the unusual sound of layered alto flutes (certainly in Ronnie Scotts Club!). I always enjoy Simon's improvised intros to Marti which change every night and are both beautiful and exploratory. Marc's solos are always very exciting and get a great response from the crowd too. Tonight in the Barbican was a concert celebrating 45 years of Ronnie Scotts Club, and some of the performers and other people came to the club after that show was finished. I understand there are some management changes about to happen at Ronnie's. No idea what that will mean, but hopefully nothing too drastic in terms of the character of the place and the music policy. In the second set we've been playing Black and Crimson and Shore Thing off the Passion Dance - Live at Ronnie's CD which has been really enjoyable as we haven't played those tracks for a while. Tonight in the middle of Black and Crimson, my saxophone reed split and a chunk of wood from it broke off completely. I left the stage during the piano solo and went backstage to change the reed, which I had to do before I was due to come in with the tune again - so the clock was ticking! I changed the reed but the new one I put on was so hard I got no sound at all! It was getting nearer when I needed to play again and for a second or two panic set in. What if the band got to my bit and I couldn't play at all - and in front of a full house. How embarrasing would that be?! Scary. I quickly got out another reed and put it on the mouthpiece. Worringly that one was no good either. Too hard. Much puffing and still no sound. Arghh! I tried another and this time it worked (thank god!). I ran back to the stage and to some quizzical looks from the band (where had I been? What was I doing?) - started playing. Panic over! Phew... For "Stewed flute", my solo flute imrov' with effects I tried some different things tonight. I started singing and making gutteral grunts into the flute while playing with the delays on, which gave a sort of groove effect. Fun, and a change too. Andy sounded particularly groovy in his bass solo on Fort Dunlop tonight, and Simon and Marc on top form too. Being the last night there was a special energy in the second set, and after the show everyone was in a very jokey mood - the band, the staff and especially Cedar Walton. I sold quite a lot of CDs too. Being the last night it finished quite late and got home around 4 am. All in all, a really great week. Next stop - Newcastle on Tyne!