Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Salient: An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 11, No. 10, August 18th, 1948

Extrav Band Dance

Extrav Band Dance

Stomachs full of coffee and supper, and a few pounds towards the Building Fund Appeal were at least two results of this enjoyable "Function" on Friday night (August 6th), emceed by Johnny Waldegrave. But the success of the show was due in no small measure to the music supplied by the band itself, which has kept up some practices since the Extravaganza.

No one will claim that the band-showed polish, but the dancers didn't' mind the ragged edges and an occasional breakdown. On the other hand, many who came with an attitude of benevolent tolerance towards the band's efforts were no doubt surprised to hear some good playing—easy for listening as well as dancing.

Even when they got down to the level of such delightful ditties as "Jingle Bells," "Hey Jig-a-Jig" and "Banjo On My Knee," everyone in the band seemed to be having a good time.

When it came to playing in hot jazz style, the standard jazz tunes such as "Blue Skies" offered scope for some good solos. For rhythmical swing and improvisation the old "Twelve Bar Blues" proved the medium for some really exciting playing, with' the drums doing all sorts of tricky rhythms and the saxophones working in well with the jumping trumpets. If the music did sound a little jammy at times we must remember that it was, necessary to help them stick in the groove.

As to the personnel of the band, the staple diet was the rhythm section, of course, who played really well. Barbara Holm held the band together with her finished pianistics, assisted by Marie Le Comte.

There was no difficulty in hearing the brass section Dick Steele blasted out some solid high-powered solos. At times Hugh Dixon stole the honours for playing straight clear melody a la Dizzy Gillespie: once or twice his vibratto became a bit sickly, but this defect was soon forgotten with his superb trumpet versions of "After You've Gone," and "Dark Eyes" (the latter displaying the pyrotechnics flying in "Anthropology" fashion!).

The saxophone section also made itself heard in the person of its nifty alto man, clad in a blue sloppy joe (Ken Hall), who blew hard, usually on the melody. The two tenor players, Frank Foster and Richard Rainey, were more subdued, but gave a good harmonic backing occasionally bursting forth into solos.

Apart from supplying dance music there were signs of musical talent in the Extrav. band. It would be a healthy sign of VUC encouraged the efforts of the performers, perhaps with some further practice a more ambitious venturec ould be staged—not only for dancing but for listening to the music. If the band get round to running a jazz concert they will be sure of some genuine interest and support from the college.