Portsmouth vinyl-only DJs Wax Equities, spinners of classic Funk, Jazz and Hip-Hop, are moving their Friday night residency from Southsea's HUIS to The Belle Isle. The Osborne Road venue has recently extended its opening hours, meaning that the music can play on until the reasonably small hours.
Wax Equities will be continuing their Adventures In Wax guest DJ programme, with Dharma 77 joining them on their first night at the new locale, Friday 1st February, with a host of others announced for their first three months (see poster, below). The music plays from 2130 through until 0100 and entry is completely FREE.
John Thomson's turn as Louis Balfour in The Fast Show's Jazz Club skits may not have been to all tastes, pandering as it did to the stereotype that Jazz is loved only by pretentious pseuds in roll-neck sweaters, but they had a side-effect of programming the brains of those that watched them to utter the words "nice" or "great" whenever the J-word is used.
That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Despite never owning a roll-neck sweater, or smoking a pack of Gauloises in a dark cellar, I must confess that I'm partial to some flavours of Jazz. The works of Tord Gustavsen, The Bad Plus and the late Esbjörn Svensson all sit comfortably amongst the selection of Indie, Alt-Rock, Electronica, Rap and Pop in my record collection. However, despite that, I can wilt under the excesses of some performers (Courtney Pine for example), excesses which cause said stereotypes to flourish and my tapping foot to steer clear.
News that Southsea's Coastguard Studio has partnered with Chichester's La Havana Jazz Club, to bring Jazz to the heart of Portsmouth in 2019, could well get me to direct my Converse to The Strand for an evening of mellifluous delights (especially as Portsmouth's long running Jazz club is shuttering in December).
The monthly club night promises international artists (the excellent Gilad Atzmon is amongst the initial tranche announced), supplemented by local DJs spinning vinyl. Not to further reinforce a stereotype but all I can say is great.
Hard to believe but true, Portsmouth's venerable 60's beat and funk DJ combo are soon to celebrate a milestone birthday; Hipshaker have been entertaining the masses for twenty years and, to celebrate this milestone, DJs Simon and Dave are having a party.
Over two decades this DJ duo have thrilled audiences at The Wedgewood Rooms, got crowds dancing at the Isle of Wight Festival, brought the music to the Ryde Scooter Rally and, generally, supplied good tunes to thousands of folks along the South Coast and beyond. Along the way they've released an LP that collected rare tunes in one vinyl package (still available if you look on ebay) and power a radio show on local station Express FM.
The boys are holding their birthday shindig at at Southsea's Coastguard Studio on Friday 14th December, with tickets priced at a very reasonable £12, and they've invited their good chums The Small Fakers along for some live music too. Ticket information should be available soon, best to check the Hipshaker Facebook page for updates.
Nice.
Jazz.
Even saying the word can provoke an instant, sometimes violent, reaction in people. An over-exposure to Kenny Ball's Jazzmen at an early age can scar someone for life; just the image of a moustachioed man in a bowler hat can cause cold sweats and tremors in folks I know.
Not me though. Oh no.
Unfortunately it's likely this mental conditioning of what jazz is that puts people off. It may also explain the dearth of jazz in our record shops, something Courtney Pine railed against at the end of his set last night, and perhaps even the less than full venue in which he found himself.
Perhaps.
For the most part the ebullient Pine entertained us with some funky slices of sax jazz, backed by his exceedingly talented band (two fifths of which had acted as his support). A selection of his back catalogue, mixed with jazz standards such as the classic Take Five, were dropped on us like funky bombs. The hep-cat kids standing next to me were getting down, the tall guy in front of me was definitely nodding his head.
Great.
Unfortunately just weaving around the melody wasn't enough for Pine; soon the stereotypical jazz noodlings started and I had to strain to hear the notes he wasn't playing. The hep-cat kids were in ecstasy but I was getting lost. And then it got silly. Playing a saxophone fast is one thing and there's no denying that the saxophonic callasthenics were technically impressive. But playing it with no hands, or playing two at once? That's just showing off.
This was showboating for its own sake, the kind of musical masturbation I imagine Steve Vai gets up to. But I appeared to be alone in my opinion. The majority of the audience clapped politely after each noodly tootle; the hep-cat kids next to me shouted their appreciation and blew a large herbal cloud in my direction.
Mellow.
If I could play two saxophones at once I'd damn sure let everyone know about it, but it's a talent I feel would be more at home on Opportunity Knocks than onstage at The Wedgewood Rooms. Thankfully the showing off was reined in toward the end of the set and we were treated to a funky take on the Billy Taylor Trio's I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel To Be Free) for putting up with it.
Nice.
Before sending us out into the rain, and after making us jump up and down seventy two times to show our commitment to jazz, Courtney Pine made an impassioned plea on behalf of the UK jazz scene. Sadly, to a casual bystander like myself, the more outlandish elements of the evening's performance appear to explain the state it's in.
