JAZZ AT CIVIC THEATRE

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27591, 23 February 1955, Page 9

JAZZ AT CIVIC THEATRE

LYN CHRISTIE’S GROUP LOUDLY WELCOMED

The usual spectacle of unrehearsed audience excitement took place in the Civic Theatre last evening when Lyn Christie and his friends held a jazz concert. For the latter part of the evening the musicians on the stage assumed a secondary role—they provided the music for a youthful section of the audience to blend with their own brand of entertainment For the rest of the packed theatre, gazing at the writhing, swaying bodies below the front of the stage, it was a most diverting evening. Dixie and boogie meant more to this audience than the quieter more intricate bebop. The louder the noise the greater the movement and the louder the responses from the body of the theatre. Old favourites like “South Rampart street Parade,” “Twelfth Street Rag,” and “When the Saints Come Marchin In” could not be given enough applause. Some of the most attractive items were given by Bart Stokes on an alto saxophone with Julian Lee, one of the premier jazzmen of New Zealand, accompanying on the Civic Theatre organ. “Flamingo” was especially good. “The Creep” was introduced by Lyn Christie. The audience, before the piece began, called for another, but after they had heard it through the rafters shook with the shouts for “more!”

For the rest of the programme it was an evening of improvisation, some of it very good. The first half had not the polish expected from this experienced group, but the second half added up to good entertainment.

Pat McMinn, a singer who is very well known for her tours of Korea was met like an old friend. The drummer of the group was a free-jointed young man in a blue suit called “Lockie” Jamieson who gave the crowd plenty of action. Two more concerts will be given by the group—this evening and on Thursday.