The seventeen-piece Big Colors Big Band, led by trumpeter David Shires, makes a rare live appearance when it plays Jazz Café POSK in November with a programme drawn from some of the jazz greats of the mid-twentieth century. David spoke with UK Jazz News about the band and the forthcoming event, which features guest musicians Brandon Allen, Mark Armstrong and Jakub Klimiuk.
A former National Youth Jazz Orchestra musician, David formed the Big Colors Big Band in 2008. The name was the idea of Mark Doffman, David’s partner in the founding of the band. “We always intended the repertoire and sound of the band to be rich and full of contrast and for a while we subtitled our gig posters ‘technicolor for your ears,’ which sums it up. At that time, no other bands in the area were playing that mix so we had to make it happen ourselves. The spelling of Colors acknowledged that most of the charts would be by American arrangers, something which we’ve continued to run with.”
The band’s self-titled debut album, released on 33 Jazz in 2010, included Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower” and Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” as well as Sting’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger.” The band has a more focussed approach to tune selection for the Jazz Café POSK event, presenting, as the event’s title makes clear, “An Evening of Mid-Century Cool — the music of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and more …” This tantalising phrase begs the question of just who “and more” might include. David gives a few examples: “There’s a couple from Herbie Hancock, plus compositions by Horace Silver, Gerry Mulligan, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and an early Joe Zawinul.”
As for the compositions of Davis, Coltrane and Mingus, David explains that “There’ll be one or two from Miles’s Kind of Blue of course, and a great arrangement of ‘Boplicity’from the Birth of the Cool album. We’ll playColtrane’s gorgeous ‘Naima’as well as ‘Blue Train.’ The Mingus tunes will be ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,’which Brandon makes a beautiful job of, and ‘Nostalgia in Times Square,’which still sounds pretty hip 65 years after it was written. I spend a lot of time choosing the material and the order in which we play it. I like the idea of a programme creating a mood – a kind of narrative.” This approach has already proven successful, the band’s 2023 performances of cool jazz proving popular with audiences and encouraging David to “tap into that pool of interest” again.
The Big Colors Big Band debut album used arrangements from the likes of Sammy Nestico and all the arrangements for An Evening of Mid-Century Cool are also by Americans. “In the past we’ve played charts by band members and it worked well. Steve Waterman did some gigs with us a few years back and we used three or four of his terrific compositions. It is something I’d like to do more of, perhaps with Mark Armstrong’s material or tunes from Jakub’s pen – if he manages to find the required head-space in the future. It’s a time-consuming process.” Finding the right Big Band arrangements of small-band tunes, such as ‘Naima’ and ‘Freddie Freeloader’, proved challenging. “It was very difficult,” says David. “The score should always be interesting, of course, using the full range of sounds and textures offered by the larger ensemble but if it becomes too complex or over-written, you lose the feel of the original.” He eventually found some high-quality arrangements for those tunes but “It took a lot of searching and listening.”
The Big Colors Big Band contains what David describes as “a few ex-NYJO ‘new kids on the block’.” The full line-up for Jazz Café POSK includes George Millard & Steph Green (alto), Brandon Allen & Ollie Weston (tenor), Mike Wilkins (bari), Josh Short, Mark Armstrong, Gabriel Taylor, Sam Virdie (trumpets), Matt Cooper, Tom Green, Ross Law, Pearce Abbey (trombones), Jakub Klimiuk (Guitar), Will Inscoe (piano), Murray Dare (bass) and Simon Spies (drums).
Saxophonist Brandon Allen has previously appeared with the band, while trumpeter Mark Armstrong and guitarist Jakub Klimiuk will be making their debut appearances in the line-up, although many of the players worked with Armstrong when he was NYJO’s Musical Director.
As with any jazz big band, organization and economics present problems and the Big Colors Big Band hasn’t performed as much as they would have liked over the 16 years of its existence, the most gigs in a single year being seven or eight. However, David has plans beyond the Jazz Café POSK concert: “We’ll be playing the Pangbourne Jazz Club in Berkshire in early January. We’ve played there before and the audience and vibe were inspiring – it’ll be a great way to start the New Year. Brandon and Mark are lined up for that one too. We’d love to do another album – I felt right at home in the recording environment. Perhaps something with Jakub and his record label? Right now, we’re focused on the next two concerts. It’s exciting – I can’t wait to hear these wonderful musicians playing this fabulous music.”
An Evening of Mid-Century Cool — the music of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and more … takes place at Jazz Café POSK, 238-246 King Street, London W6 0RF on Saturday 9 November 2024 from 7.00pm.
