JAZZ CONCERT

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26477, 19 July 1951, Page 3

JAZZ CONCERT

REMARKABLE RECEPTION A group of enthusiasts demonstrated in the Radiant Theatre last evening the merits of jazz. The reception given the concert by the capacity crowd was remarkable. There were shrieks of delight and shouts for encores, and before the last strains of the first number played by a full-piece band had a chance to die, easily half of the audience stamped and clapped or otherwise voiced their approval with yells and whistles, and in the succeeding numbers it was not long before the whole audience began beating time with their heads,, hands, feet, and bodies and screaming encouragement to the musicians as they played. There was music to suit the many and varied tastes of jazz devotees— Dixie. Bop, Boogie Woogie, Blues, and big band jazz. To finish up with a Jam Session all proved the capabilities of these competent players. The Jam Session was undoubtedly the most popular with the entire party on the stage beating out a rhythm that had everyone in the theatre worked to a pitch of excitement. Peter Davey, playing an alto-saxo-phone, was without question the most talented jazzman. He played as though the music was born in him, and his technique was comparable with the Americans, Hawkins and Phillips. Rod Derrett on guitar and the trumpet players Gerald Marston, Douglas Kelly, and Cliff Innes together with Brian Worsfold (piano), Martin Winiata (clarinet), and Vince Gray (tenor saxophone) all showed that Christchurch was richly endowed in jazz exponents well above average.