Ghosts
of Jazz
By
Alan Place
The town of Cheltenham is renowned
worldwide for many things, from music festivals to the girls school and the
racing, depending on your taste and what you want. Behind this rich Edwardian
exterior lies a little story that I hope will tantalize your imagination.
During the International jazz festival
which is usually held on the last weekend of April, thousands of fans flock to
the town to see today's names. This story is a taste of real jazz for you, I
hope. With all the festival pomp going on at the Town hall, the Budwieser stage
and the theatre. Everybody misses the real home, a small venue and now all but
forgotten. Walking past the town hall, and heading to the Montpelier district,
you have to cross the road, it was here that I first took note of real jazz
music. The club is called the Subtone, unless you know where to look and
listen, it is so easily missed.
Under all the huge Edwardian buildings used
as offices for anything from solicitors to hair dressers, lies a small path to
a little club. No more than about fifty
feet long by a hundred feet wide and nearly always smoky, this is the real jazz
not the big stages for the modern imitation by 20 year olds who think hitting a
few notes makes them a jazz icon.
I was standing at the gate, when I thought
I heard someone playing a trumpet, thinking it might be from a fringe event, I
ventured down and to my surprise came across a wonderous thing. As I stepped
through the gate, the door opened to the club, and a doorman met me."Good
evening sir, I hope you enjoy the show." he said.
"Thank you,’ I replied. “Can you tell me
who is playing tonight, please?"
"That I cannot say sir."
"Cannot or will not." I enquired
both intrigued and a bit annoyed.
"Come on in, and you will see why I
cannot answer the question sir."
"I will be delighted to see why you
cannot say." I said getting more than interested as to the meanings behind
the statement.
As I stepped in, I could see the stage at
the back, covered in the smoky atmosphere I was expecting, what followed was
something trult amazing.I could vaguely
see figures moving about. Nobody was solid, just a mist and the outlines of
bodies, yet the music was so clear as if the people themselves were there. The
forms seemed to change shapes, to suit the mood of the music.
Coming from the stage I could hear a
trumpet playing, and recognised the style of West coast jazz,familiar to Chet
Baker in his prime, alongside the sax of Gerry Mulligan and clarinet of Art Pepper, on the drums it
appeared to be Buddy Rich.
“This is wrong!"I thought. Turning to the man next to me I said "Excuse me
sir,but don’t you think Chet is on form tonight, and that clarinet of Art is so
clear, after all these years."
The man turned and said "Sorry sir, we
are watching different sessions, I cannot see who you do, for me it is
Colttrane, Miles Davis, Gene Krupa up there."
"How come? We are in the same room,
looking at the same stage at the same time.”
The weirdness of the reply aroused my
interest immenely, I started to walk around the club asking various people who
they saw and got all combinations possible. I found out that even though there
were over a hunders people in the room, there was little cross over for the
session and no two sessions were identical. Musicians were there from Ike
Quebec to Coleman Hawkins, Tony Williams to Lonnie Donnegan, and the styles
went from the early 20s to the skiffle of the late 60s, the more I found out,
the less I found I knew, this was a total mystery.
In the midst of my confused state, I
finally got to the door, and had a talk with mine host. "I see what you
mean now, you could not tell me who is playing, as you had no idea."
"That is right sir, the secret of the
club is that YOU decide who appears. You can come every night and never
see the same group of performers playing the same tunes, it is all up to YOU."
"Can you answer a few questions for me
please?"
"If I can I will be glad to !"
"Thank you very much," I replied
"I see there is no sign of either Jamie Cullum, Polar bear, Ingrid
Laubruch here, or any other modern jazz group.Do you forbid it?as the jazz here
is so pure.”
"Not at all, everyone is welcomed, but
without realising it, you answered your question when you said MODERN jazz,
the people you mentioned are still alive." Seeing my puzzled look, my new
friend explained to me "When you asked around, didn't you notice, everyone
saw someone different. Yet they had one thing in common, they have all passed
the veil of time to this endless stream of jazz."
"I see now, the only qualification is
being dead then."
"That is correct sir.
"How come, with all the festival going
on in town, so few people have come here and yet standing at the gate, I can
hear the music?"
"Again you have answered the question
sir, YOU heard the music, because you wanted to and you have been here
before, so knew where to look for us."
"One or two more questions, first is
there a nationality bar, or is it any dead jazz musicians?"
"No sir, we have no bar at all, the other
day someone left saying they were listening to Joe Zawinul, Karlheinz
Stockhausen and Django Reinhardt, among others."
"As the festival is over soon, will
you be closing down and finishing until next year then?’
"No sir, as I said this is an endless
stream of jazz, it never finishes and we play all evenings to ever increasing
crowds."
I thanked the doorman as I turned to leave
and walked up the steps to the main road. All the time, thinking of the various
questions raised. How many variations of styles from 20s through be-bop to
skiffle and beyond, all the musicians who had joined the band.And the
non-answerable question.
"Who
is in the best band ?"
There are as
many answers as people asked, as we all like our jazz differently.
Placing vote on behalf of Merita King
ReplyDeleteGosh, you have done your research on Jazz bands of past eras! I recognized a few of them. My grandfather was an expert on the early 20's jazz greats. This was a quaint little story, with an unusual idea. I liked how each person heard their own favorites, giving it definitely a haunted feel. A nice, safe ghost story with a fun little twist. Excellent job! Robynn
ReplyDeleteNice nostalgic time/death portal story. I like glimpses into unseen/unkown worlds. Good work.
ReplyDelete