Yet Another Rehearsal ...
We are frequently asked at gigs how often we rehearse - possibly because we sound as though we actually rehearse frequently, or (more likely) because it sounds as though regular rehearsals might improve matters. Our answer is invariably along the lines of “We do in fact tend to rehearse on an annual basis …though once we had a couple in the same year!” This is only partly badinage, as rehearsals tend to be tricky to arrange owing to the geographical spread of the band members’ homes - Dorchester, Taunton, Bath, Axbridge, Clevedon …
We are fortunate, however, to have a fine studio in which to rehearse when we can arrange to coincide. This is our former bass player Pete Ward’s ancestral pile - Somerton Towers - where, assisted by his faithful manservant Carruthers, Pete plays the genial host and makes us most welcome. Our annual rehearsal took place quite recently, in fact, and Carruthers was on hand, as always, to supervise the car parking arrangement (appropriately attired in his hi-vis jacket) before handing round welcoming trays of canapés, and crystal glasses of the finest sherry.
This rehearsal included remedial work on various ‘corners’ of several of our trickier numbers before moving on to new material, including a Barney Bigard number from 1939 - Barney Goin’ Easy - penned for us by Trevor Whiting. Other new repertoire has recently been rather dominated by our Staff Arranger’s current obsession with the wonderful - and little known - work of Hartzell Strathdene ‘Tiny’ Parham, a short, wide, rotund pianist/composer, looking rather like a mild-mannered and bespectacled bank clerk, who had made some forty exquisite recordings by the end of the 1930s, at which point, like so many other musicians, he fell victim to the economies of the Depression and was forced to turn his hand to smaller-scale projects - mainly solo jobs in theatres, cinemas and clubs.
Having recently added his Back To The Jungle and Bombay to our first Parham number - African Fantasy - we ran through a piece called Clarice a couple of times, and it seemed to work pretty well. Still in the pipeline are Snake Eyes, Golden Lily and Washboard Wiggles. If you’re intrigued by these little known titles, head over to YouTube and search for them - you won’t be disappointed!
After all this excitement and focussed hard work it was time to enjoy the usual splendid spot of tucker prepared by Carruthers, after which - clutching our doggie bags of leftovers - we headed off to our sundry homes, tired but happy in an annual job well done …