BY MICHAEL LAKE

There seems to be something of a jazz happening going on in the Medway towns which is why for consecutive months I’ve found myself navigating the cresta run, that is Chatham’s one way system, on the way to the Brook Theatre. On this occasion it was to see one of Britain’s best Latin Jazz bands; Snowboy and the Latin Section (purveyors of hard core Africa cuban jazz), performing with KYJO aka the Kent Youth Jazz Orchestra. 

I actually wrote this article in London after celebrating my Godson’s 18th birthday. To be precise I composed it, ran a spell check, bought and read the two Sunday papers, drank a coffee in Starbucks and watched half of Something for the Weekend, in the time it took Alex, to get in and out of the bathroom. It is clear to me which section of the community is responsible for national water shortages. The transition from not wanting to pick up a flannel to OCD’ing on personal hygiene is worth further study as the “ablutions evolution” phenomena.

I mention this because given the above, and retrospectively, it was surprising to see all of the teenage members of KYJO stationed and ready to play as the curtain rose and lights came down. Full marks to Graham Mann KYJO’s Musical Director. It would be interesting to know what mind or behavioural control methods he uses on his youthful charges. I suspect Pavlov, Skinner and Hitler are strong influences.

It was a very interesting collaboration and the band members Snowboy (Mark Cotgrove) and trumpeter Sid Gauld, in particular, have to be commended for their enthusiasm and the encouragement given to Kent’s future jazz stars. The gig itself was very much one of two halves with KYJO taking centre stage in the first half and the roles reversed in the second. The opening number was a cool version of what sounded like “No Pablo Espanol”. I had to smile at the extended trombone solo from the aforementioned MD and teacher. It reminded me of that scene in Kez, and secondary school PE lessons, where the teacher runs the length of the footie pitch knocking the pupils out of the way to score a goal, without I might add the ego manic overtones.  

There were many gig highlights such as; the sweet vocals of Heather Andrews on “Sway”, a version of Mambo from Westside story, which was as tight as an Aussies elbow and some stratospheric trumpet playing by Sid Gauld on “Charging your batteries”. It was actually a very eventful gig, both on and off stage, including what appeared to be a heart attack within the audience, I suspect not the first at a jazz gig (all joking aside we hope the chap is ok). Notably sitting amongst the crowd was none other than James Taylor of the excellent and versatile “James Taylor Quartet”. As the readers of the GIG Guide and therefore musicologists will know the JTQ was responsible for the Starsky and Hutch theme tune, de de dud de der de dud der dud er de etc. and the opening track from the first Austin Powers movie. God bless you Wikipedia!

Anyhow, check out “Communication” which is Snowboy and the Latin Section’s latest album on Freestyle Records.

Tags: Austin Powers, Brook Theatre (Chatham), Freestyle Records, Graham Mann, Heather Andrews, Hitler, James Taylor, Kent Youth Jazz Orchestra, Kez, KYJO, Mambo, Mark Cotgrove, Michael Lake, No Pablo Espanol, Pavlov, Sid Gauld, Skinner, Snowboy, Snowboy and the Latin Section, Something For The Weekend, Starbucks, Starsky and Hutch, Sway, The Gig Guide, The James Taylor Quartet, Westside Story, Wikipedia

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