Stepping into Christmas with The Big Band

Last Friday night saw Perrins Hall filled with the sounds of festive jazz hosted by The RGS Big Band in their finest Christmas jumpers and hats.

The Big Band stormed into their first set of jazz classics with the Latin fire of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia”, followed by Sonny Rollins’ swinging “Doxy” and the Eddie Harris jazz-funk classic, “Listen Here”. The set featured excellent soloists from within the band, including alto saxophonists Emily Jackson and Jai Sanehi, Reuben and Martha Colclough on trumpet and tenor saxophone respectively and the band’s youngest member, Year Eight trumpeter James Walter. There was also great playing throughout from our dynamic rhythm section, pianist Sihan Fu, bassist Thomas Newman and drummers Will Hughes and Barney Dunnett.

Next, the Flute Ensemble, led by Mrs Porter, took the stage, bringing the first sounds of Christmas with a beautiful performance of “Dance of the Mirlitons” from “The Nutcracker”, as well as a wonderful carol medley that set a perfect festive tone.

Junior Jazz then took over, with repertoire chosen by two of the young trumpet players – “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” featured fine improvised solos from Iona Laidler on the flute and Oscar Norman at the piano, who then provided a beautiful solo interlude based on the carol “O Christmas Tree”, before things took a funky turn as Andre Zota brought the heat with his soprano saxophone.

The first half was brought to a rousing close by Heidi Porter’s band Roll With It, performing Elton John’s “Step into Christmas”, which had the audience clapping their way to their interval mince pies!

The Dashing Musical Chaps (DMCs) opened the second half with a soulful acapella interpretation of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (with a cameo from Mr Conway!) and then passed the baton to the Guitar Group, who gave a serene performance of Wham’s “Last Christmas”.

The Senior Jazz Ensemble then performed a short set, beginning with the melodic cascades of Vince Gauraldi’s “Skating” – an arrangement featuring improvised solos from violinist Denis Goodwiilie-Green and flautist Heidi Porter. The group’s tenor saxophonist Arthur Hasling then took to the microphone to croon Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” over an ironically sunny bossa-nova accompaniment. Sasha Penlington then marched onto the stage to deliver her demands to Santa, singing “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” with her trademark authority and musicality.

The Big Band returned to provide their final trio of tunes. The first was a calypso take on “Deck the Halls” which briefly featured our trombone-section-of-one, Sebastian Clarke as well as some fine solo fills from drummer Will Hughes.

Then came a truly special moment as UVVE (Upper Voices Vocal Ensemble) joined the band for a joint performance of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”. The arrangement was kindly written by parent Mr Alex Walter, and was enjoyed by the players and audience alike. The band wrapped up the concert with a fun, brass infused version of “Feliz Navidad” before the musicians and their fans went on their merry way!

I would like to extend a huge thank you to all the talented pupils involved in the concert, as well as the fantastic audience who were in attendance.

I think together we kicked off this year’s festive season with style!

Mr M Adlington, Teacher of Music