JAZZ CONCERT

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27071, 20 June 1953, Page 2

JAZZ CONCERT

TOURING BAND WELL RECEIVED

The curtain had barely begun to rise at the St. James’ Theatre last evening when Clive Mahon’s jazz band bufst forth into musie of intense voluihe.

The touring concert party was at times wildly applauded, but the audience appeared to appreciate a local artist, Martin Winiata, more than any of the others. Until a quarter of an hour before the conclusion of the programme, the audience was Strangely silent during the items. However, the climax of the evening came when the “Dixielanders” played “Blacksmith Blues. The star of this item was Bob Griffiths, who with his trumpet, put volume into the music, which brought the youthful audience to its feet in the most enthusiastic acclamation of the evening. The first two hours of the programme at times tended to become more like an evening lullaby than a true jazz session. Nevertheless, “Little Rock Getaway,” “Tiko Tiko,” and several other items, which were played by Hughie Gordon on a tin whistle, made easy listening. New Zealand “cry baby,” Keith Rowles, brought considerable laughter from the audience because of his comedy, but if the reception he gained was an indication, he gave a good performance, especially in “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home” and “Little White Lies.” Mark Kahi, who follows the playing of Les Paul, pleased the audience with his playing on an electric guitar. His best items included “Three Little Wdrds” and “Those Dark Eyes.” The “Dixielanders’* consisted of Bob Griffiths (trumpet), Neil Dunningham (trombone), Monte Oliver (piano), Bart Stokes (clarinet), Don Branch (drums) and a bass. The combination of the trumpet, trombone and clarinet pleased the aduience most of all, but the energy which the trumpeter, Bob Griffiths, put into his music, ensured the success of the entertainment.