White Rock Theatre, Wednesday 19 June 2019
Ronnie Scott’s is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and the All Stars are on tour to tell the story. They came to the White Rock last week for an evening of nostalgia and story-telling, linked with music which spanned the whole of the history of the club.
Saxophonist Alex Garnett not only led the quartet but acted as raconteur, filling in the history between the numbers and introducing us to some of characters who had been instrumental to the success of the club. It was somewhat disconcerting to suddenly see the face of Ginger Baker and hear him in an early recorded interview.
Alex Garnett was joined by Sam Burgess, bass, Chris Higginbottom, drums, and James Pearson, piano for the instrumental numbers, allowing each solo breaks and a chance for Chris to demonstrate his homage to Buddy Rich.
Vocalist, Natalie Williams, was also with them, bringing tributes to Ella Fitzgerald among other items.
Though the music was of high quality throughout we could possibly have done with a little more of it and rather less talk between. I suspect most of the audience were there as jazz fans rather than stand-up. However it reflects on the quality that it left us wanting more.