Art Themen Organ Trio
Live In Soho
by Howard Lawes
Live in Soho is a new album of old favourites from the Art Themen Organ Trio with Art Themen on soprano and tenor saxophones, Pete Whittaker on organ and piano, and George Double on drums. However, while the tracks feature covers of classic US jazz by the likes of Zoot Sims, Cannonball Adderley, and Herbie Hancock the arrangements are very much the trio's unique take and in the best traditions of jazz.
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Listen to Groovy Samba from the new album:​
Talking to the band via a WhatsApp video call, they explained that their musical arrangements are arrived at via a continually evolving and democratic process. And it may well be a surprise to many that the band (sometimes supplemented by Martin Shaw on trumpet and Denny Ilett on guitar) have played nigh on 100 gigs together so providing plenty of opportunity to fine-tune the arrangements. Their first album, Thane and the Villeins, prompted one reviewer to lament the name and amusing album cover pronouncing that "Sadly, it’s sloppy marketing that misrepresents and undersells the valuable sounds inside. I’d recommend instant repackaging". Live in Soho is the third album from the trio, and any necessary improvements in marketing have been taken on board by publicity chief George Double, including releasing the album on the Ubuntu Music label.
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Art Themen explained that the Thane (or nobleman) was George who hails from Hadleigh in Suffolk, a quaint market town in the Stour Valley that has associations with artists such as Constable and Gainsborough. Pete Whittaker from Wolverhampton and Art Themen from Manchester were cast as the Villeins (peasants), and this became a joke that was reflected in the name of the album. (Click on the picture below for a video of the Trio playing Sweet Emma from the album at Peggy's Skylight in 2021).
Whatever their birthplace all three musicians have enjoyed learning about and making music from childhood. In an interview for Jazz Views with Jack Kenny (2022), Art relates ‘I was in a council school, my father died and we lived over a fish and chip shop in Salford. The headteacher of the school saw something in me and got me into MGS (Manchester Grammar School)". Art learned to play classical clarinet at MGS and went on to study medicine at Cambridge, landing in a hotbed of jazz and blues that he further embraced on moving to London to continue his medical studies during what was called "The Swinging 60s". Endlessly adaptable, Art played with all sorts of bands, blues with Alexis Korner, rock with Jack Bruce, jazz with Michael Garrick, Norma Winstone and Stan Tracey, to name a few, and his playing is immortalised on many tens of albums to this day that include five released just this year. Here is Art Themen performing with the Michael Garrick Sextet in St Paul's Cathedral in 1968:
Pete Whittaker also took advantage of musical opportunities at school, singing in choirs, and playing violin (and viola) in the school orchestra (and later in the Wolverhampton Youth Orchestra). At the University of East Anglia, Pete gained a music degree and got interested in electroacoustic music. He furthered his studies, gaining a master's degree in electroacoustic composition. His professional music career has included Gareth Lockrane's Grooveyard, the Nigel Price Organ Trio (winning best ensemble in the 2010 Parliamentary Jazz Awards), and John Etheridge's Blue Spirits. He is married to jazz pianist Kate Williams and during the COVID-19 pandemic they produced this video, playing as a duo:
George started playing drums at the age of 11 and at Ipswich School, he became a member of a newly formed traditional Dixieland jazz band that went on to win the East Anglian section of The Daily Telegraph Young Jazz '89 Competition. He gained a BA in Music at the University of Nottingham and after graduating joined a London-based funk band. George's varied career includes performing with bands, musical theatre, tuition, examining and writing instructional manuals but perhaps his most satisfying achievement to date is creating the very successful, Hadleigh Jazz Club. After all, what is the point of spending a lifetime learning music unless there is somewhere to perform?
Some of the titles on the new album feature on previous albums by the same trio but as this is a live recording they sound different, and being covers, all of the titles feature on other albums. The tracks on the album with original composers are:
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Chili Peppers - Duke Pearson (1967)
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Brahms...I Think - Zoot Sims (1983)
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Country - Keith Jarret (1978)
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Groovy Samba - Sergio Mendes (1962)
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I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face - Frederick Loewe / Alan Jay Lerner (1956)
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African Marketplace - Abdullah Ibrahim (1980)
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And What If I Don't - Herbie Hancock (1975)
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Sophisticated Lady - Duke Ellington / Irving Mills (1932)
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The Cape Verdean Blues - Horace Silver (1965)
Some of the standout tracks on the album include the anthemic Country which really lends itself to being played on the organ, and Groovy Samba which highlights the Brazilian-style drumming of George Double. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face features a delightful, sensitive duet between Pete Whittaker on piano and Art Themen that evokes the sense of loss that Professor Henry Higgins (played in the film My Fair Lady by Rex Harrison) feels when Eliza Doolittle (played by Audrey Hepburn) deserts him. Sophisticated Lady features a beautifully rendered unaccompanied solo saxophone version of the Duke Ellington classic by Art Themen and the final track, Cape Verdean Blues gives George Double a great opportunity to show off his drumming prowess. Listen to the second track on the album - Brahms - I Think:
Live in Soho, was recorded live at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in front of a very appreciative audience, but one might reasonably ask why create an album of cover versions when the originals are all available on streaming services. Firstly, cover versions have always been a part of the jazz canon, some of the tunes on this album have been covered many times already although very few feature an organ. Secondly, recorded music provides potential audiences with the information they need to decide whether to buy a ticket for a live gig and thirdly, having heard the band live and enjoyed the performance there is merchandise that audience members can take home with them.
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The venue for the Live in Soho album launch is Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho on 3rd November and it is likely that a coach party from Hadleigh Jazz Club will be there. Art Themen is the proud owner of Ronnie Scott's tenor saxophone and is delighted to be playing the saxophone in its spiritual home. Rumour has it, that the saxophone belonged originally to Hank Mobley, who incidentally played on the recording of And What If I Don't with Herbie Hancock. The Art Themen Organ trio is a fresh, spontaneous, and entertaining band with an undeniable chemistry that should be seen live before taking them home with you.
The Art Themen Organ Trio - Live In Soho album is available here.
Other gigs in November are at Southwold Jazz Club, East Suiffolk (16th), Fleece Jazz Club, Essex (27th)
and Peggy's Skylight, Nottingham (30th).
11.2024