Georgie Fame
Top Jazz at the California
Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames stopped the dancing at the California Ballroom on Friday.
The biggest cheer of the night was for a solo by ex-“Riot Squad” drummer John Mitchell. It was only his second night with the band.
Georgie told the “Gazette” that John had fitted in remarkably well and that once they had worked out the musical arrangements “things would really move.”
Another of the evenings highlights was a wonderful piece of guitar work by Colin Green on the Jimmy Reed number “Rock me baby”
Georgie showed his vocal talent in an arrangement of “Don’t get scared” (Stan Getz-Lars Gullin). This was an excellent piece of jazz singing. His whisper-smooth voice and rubber bottom lip wound their way round some intricate phrasing which was reminiscent of Anita O’Day’s.
This top-rate band – If you want a label, call them jazz-rhythm and blues – did a very professional job and were warmly appreciated by the Dunstable audience.
The line-up: Georgie Fame, organ: Peter Coe, alto, tenor saxes, flute: Tex Makins, bass guitar: Speedy Acquaye, conga drum: John Mitchell, drums: Glen Hughes, baritone sax: Eddie Thornton, trumpet.
Presumed taken from the Dunstable Gazette
