The jazz men cometh
If you’re out there just bepoping and a scatting all on your own, then don’t despair. The Totnes Jazz Collective are around to show how a little bit of dilligence, belief and organisation can pay you dividends.
I openly admit to being a fan and I remember once knowing the difference between Johnny Dankworth and Cleo Lane, so I was shamed to hear that the collective had been running for 10 years (that was in the days when the national football team had a native manager).
So why the need for a jazz collective in Totnes?
According to press officer Allen Saddler it was down to and disgust at the way musicians were treated in local pubs.
‘The crunch came when on pub told a six-piece band, plus a singer to form a duo,’ he said.
That was all they needed to spur them on and ensure the subtleties of modern jazz were not missed in the hubbub at the bar.
Under the instigation of Sam Richards and Mike Green more than 100 hundred jazzmen (imagine!) turned out to hear Miles Away at the Royal Seven Stars. Monthly gigs followed and even a 15-piece big band came into being. And the collective has started to branch out to other venues, such as the Ariel Centre in Dartmouth.
Cool daddio. As Allen said: ‘The Totnes Jazz Collective is a blueprint of how working musicians can drum up work for themselves and others.’
Next gigs
Ariel Centre, May 6: Ming Hat from St Ives, Cornwall.
Seven Stars, May 14: Time Wasters, (local six piece)
Go along and you’re sure to be singing till the Crepescule with Nellie (see I told you I was a fan).
 Posted by Cptn
If you liked this story, you could buy us a coffeeMay 2nd, 2006
