Leeds City Varieties was a great setting for the Down for the Count All-stars.
Band leader Mike Paul-Smith has a style of jovial wit that seems well suited to a music hall and was clearly happy to be back in Leeds. The 10-piece band filled the venue with energy, elegance, and expertise. All wonderful musicians in their own right, they come together to bring a new vibrancy to swing music.
Driving the performance was a tight five-piece horn section; trumpeters Ted Smith and Gareth Howell, saxophonists Alex Clarke, Chris Adsett and Lewis Sallows. The line up changes slightly with each performance but the core group has developed a professionalism that makes it easy for others to join.
The addition to this performance was Adsett. When Mike Paul-Smith asked him where in Yorkshire he was from, his response of Bingley clearly meant nothing to the band leader, but the audience broke out in loud applause for the local lad with so much talent. His solo on Cry Me a River was truly outstanding.
We were told that this was the first time the band had played Cry Me a River live. Audience interval requests were welcomed, and this was one of the suggestions. I hope it becomes a regular feature. Lydia Bell’s vocals channelled Julie London’s original perfectly and the song added a poignancy to the evening.
Another fine sax solo came from Alex Clarke on Love Me or Leave Me. Clarke is a fine example of a group of female jazz musicians who are talented, confident and are changing jazz from a previously male dominated genre. It is clear that Ella Fitzgerald is a favourite of Colchester singer Lydia Bell. Homage was also paid to Ella with Cheek to Cheek and Honeysuckle Rose.
Whilst Mike Paul-Smith seems suited to Music Hall, vocalist Marvin Muoneké, is a showman whose performance draws upon blues, jazz and swing greats. Louis Armstrong, Sinatra and Sammy Davis Junior were amongst those whose music he made his own. For this performance he also treated us to his skills as a trumpet player. His rendition of Little Liza Jane, based on the Preservation Hall Jazz Band version, took us all the way to the roots of jazz in New Orleans.
Some of the music the band made their own by playing around with lyrics. The audience was amused by Manchester, rather than California, being called cold and damp in The Lady is a Tramp. The two vocalists duetted on How About You, adapting Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby’s version to include references to Yorkshire and Idris Elba.
The rhythm section of Mike Paul-Smith on piano, Jack Amblin on drums, and James Owston on double bass, laid down a firm foundation for everyone. Louis Armstrong’s After You’ve Gone was played by the three instrumentalists without the rest of the band. Originally written by Armstrong for his own bass player, it provided a great opportunity for James Owston to display his skills.
The last number of the set was Mack the Knife, a song that gave both vocalists, and all the musicians, a chance to shine. It was greeted by enthusiastic applause and of course we were rewarded with an encore. That’s Life and I ain’t Got Nobody ended the night in typically energetic and up-beat fashion.
This is to date the band’s only planned visit to Yorkshire this year, but Mike Paul-Smith promised that they would find a local venue for one of their Swing into Christmas orchestra performances. I look forward to more of their wonderful musicianship and joie de vivre.
Photography by Debbie Rolls.
