The jazz collective Way Out West (WOW) knew exactly what they wanted to do and duly assembled this special band of star players to help them do it. This was to celebrate local hero Tony Kinsey’s exceptional jazz longevity and compositional prowess by performing a programme of his jazz pieces, some quite recently written, as well as his long-form “Embroidery Suite”. Badging the ensemble as the Tony Kinsey Big Band for the night, WOW and company sorted out this barn-like hall in suburban Hampton and filled it, word of mouth, doubtless aided by John Bungay’s LJN preview (link below), attracting a capacity Sunday night crowd eager to pay tribute to Tony.
The stage set, the WOW members settled in amid the other all-stars, with Tim Whitehead setting the scene, licked their lips, and set to. Bowled over by the full-on power of the ensemble and intrigued by the finesse of the writing, this audience then applauded every solo, approved each musical passage, and judged the concert a triumph. And rightly so. With the now 96-year-old Kinsey seated front and centre in the audience and clearly relishing the occasion, the only thing missing was Kinsey the performer, his drumming days now sadly done, due to health considerations, it would seem. So, let’s take the occasion for what it was, a prime tribute by WOW to one of its heroes and strongest supporters. In short, an all-round good thing!
The suitably jaunty ‘Dances For The Boardroom’ was the opener, and turned out to have been a Kinsey commission for a company do. Well, on this reading it must have been quite a swinging affair, with Whitehead, Henry Lowther and Chris Biscoe finding hot corners to play in, as each section surged forward, this underlining a key facet of Kinsey’s writing. He likes to keep the sections busy: as one took runs with the theme, the others are given work to do, supporting or counter-punching.

He clearly loves to hear the trombones in full cry, allotting them complex sequences to play, often muted, their sound with bucket mutes on slower songs redolent of the Hefti-effect for the Basie band. No problem for this group of bone-men. ‘That Special Feeling’ hit a more mellow groove, Andy Panayi’s soprano lead over cushioned saxes revealing Tony’s flair for memorable saxophonic writing too. ‘Just For Neil’ remembered a fallen friend in the best kind of way, its strong, brass-heavy melodic figures, featuring more of that nice, polished Hefti-muted trombone blowing, tenorist Pete Hurt suitably upbeat in solo. That Tony could also write songs to cherish should have come as no surprise, his ‘Walking In The Rain,’ with its lilting melodic line, deserving and receiving a relaxed vocal reading by the sweet-sounding Nette Robinson. ‘Jumping Jive’ felt good too, zestful, and lively, the rhythm team of Jeremy Brown and Gary Willcox generating swing, as they did so capably throughout, Tony Woods’ vivid alto solo, Steve Fishwick’s spirited trumpet, and Mark Nightingale’s trenchant trombone the highlights.
The concert’s second half concentrated on Kinsey’s subtly programmatic, seven-part ‘Embroidery Suite,’ first composed and recorded back in 2006, and embodying his reflections on his long-term residence in nearby Sunbury and its Thames-side location. ‘’The Whole Picture’ came first, Panayi’s flute the dominant feature, the theme quite expansive. ‘River Life’ gave space to Kate Williams and deployed plenty of fire-power from the brass, the entire piece animated and rhythmically fast-flowing. The conversational ‘Life at the Inn’ had more soprano from Panayi and a detailed, spiky-toned solo from the Pennsylvania-born Andre Canniere. The upbeat ‘Dance of the Architects’ (who knew?) gave Nightingale, Martin Gladdish and Nick Mills a chance to romp collectively, while ‘Messing About In Boats’ was pure pleasure, jovial in outline with Biscoe steering the ship calmly and well. ‘Spirits of the Cenotaph’ was more solemn, Kate Williams and Jeremy Brown taking the salute, and Lowther adding his own pristine commentary. The final ‘Monksbridge’ had a nice groove, Williams opening, Pete Hurt on tenor, Whitehead on clarinet, Mills and Sid Gauld up on their toes.
With that, the job was done, and we’d all had quite a night. So, a fillip for WOW and for their musicians, and a spectacular way to pay homage to the great Tony Kinsey, an under-sung star of British modern jazz.
The Tony Kinsey Big Band
Trumpets: Henry Lowther, Sid Gauld (lead), Steve Fishwick, Andre Canniere
Trombones: Nick Mills, Mark Nightingale (lead), Martin Gladdish (tb), Sarah Williams (bass-tb)
Saxes: Tim Whitehead (ts, cl), Pete Hurt (ts, fl), Andy Panayi (as, lead, sop, fl), Tony Woods (as), Chris Biscoe (bari)
Rhythm: Kate Williams (kbd), Jeremy Brown (b), Gary Willcox (d)
Vocals: Nette Robinson
3 responses
How nice to read Peter Vacher’s splendid review of a wonderful gig in LJN. It was indeed a brilliant evening & it’s great to see one of the last giants of that generation of British jazz getting the respect and affection he deserves. Congratulations to WOW and every member of a fantastic band – and above all, honour and respect to Tony himself. Nigel Tully.
Great to read the review of the Tony Kinsey tribute evening, it was truly a great night. I am old enough to have been a regular at the old Flamingo Club, Leicester Square back in the mid-fifties and have always been a Kinsey fan ever since. tony has always been, to me, the epitome of what a small group drummer should be.
Hey! Tony Bushell our paths must have crossed all those years ago. I used to go to the Cafe de Paris until 12 midnight then over to the Flamingo Club. This was in the fifties! I am 88 years old now. What great times we had with Don Rendall, Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriot, Tony Crombie and Tony Hall (presenter)