REVIEW: 26 May 2005

6th Birthday Celebration

with Butch Thomas
and Mark Whittaker

This was a special night in more ways than one. Firstly it was the Spin’s sixth birthday so the tables had been decorated with clothes and weighed down with bowls of tasty nibbles, also there were bottles of bubbly ‘at a special Spin price’ to ease ourselves into the mood. Secondly, the guests for the evening, American, Butch Thomas on tenor and soprano saxes and Peter Whittaker on hammond organ, had worked with Pete Oxley and bassist Raf Misraki on Oxley’s CD Blue in Black and White so there was a sense of reunion that fed immediately into the music.

They kicked off the evening with Oxley’s rollicking Finsbury Park and were right in the groove from the first chorus. Taking the first solo Butch Thomas showed that he hasn’t been letting the grass grow under his fingers since his last appearance at the Spin. He has always played with head-on intensity but has added a greater fluency and articulation that gives his phrasing even more speed and accuracy, acknowledged by the roar of applause after that first solo. He also makes great use of the sax’s range, reaching the harmonics at the very top to raise the tension a notch further. On the other hand, in Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood Thomas showed that he can also play with gentle eloquence, though this did not work quite so well in Jobim’s Estate where his soprano sounded as if it wanted to break out of the sophisticated box of the South American harmonies.

It was a delight to hear Pete Whittaker on hammond. His presence gave the whole group a greater depth and a solid groove, allowing Oxley to rest from his role as rhythm guitar when not soloing. Beyond this Whittaker’s unassuming manner at the keyboard hides a musician with a great sense of rhythm and structure in his solos. More than once he raised the temperature as he worked his way up the keys until the audience were letting out whoops of delight. In a splendid new Oxley tune, The Gruffollo, dedicated to Oxley’s recent role as father, Whittaker used thick punched chords on the organ to reflect the heavy ambulant monster Oxley’s melody evoked.

The other stars of the evening were the rest of the Spin band, particularly Mark Doffman and Pete Oxley whose joint energy, dedication and musical expertise have made this remarkable jazz club such a great success, where week after week you can enjoy some of the best players in the country. The Spin also has a dedicated audience who give the place a genuinely friendly vibe. So much so that at half time there was a chorus of Happy Birthday from the front tables and the presentation of a cake with chocolate figures of Mark and Pete doing their jazz thing. And long may they continue for without them jazz in Oxford would be a much paler experience.

© Paul Medley