Music / Jazz
Jazz fan rescues his favourite session from closure
Jazz fan Ollie Alden remembers how he felt in November on opening the regular email about his favourite weekly sessions: “I was aghast! I thought no!”
This wasn’t his reaction to the bands on offer – far from it – but the message contained a bombshell announcement: after some 13 years of organising those Thursday nights curator Jon Taylor had decided to retire.
As a result December’s gigs would be FringeJazz’s swan song.
“The email from Jon said that Tony Orrell’s Big Top (in December) was going to be his last gig. I couldn’t even get to that gig but I was at the one before that and I said ‘Jon, for goodness sake – I’ll take it over.’”
Tony Orrell’s Big Top Big Band at Fringejazz (pic: Tony Benjamin)
And so the capacity audience that turned up at the Bristol Music Club for that alleged ‘last ever’ session was confused (if delighted) to find flyers for a spring programme waiting at the door.
Quick work by Ollie? “Jon was really great – everything on that flyer he’d already arranged, there were just two dates to fill. Happily I don’t think my taste varies that much from his – I’ve been going to his gigs since they were at the Fringe pub, after all.
“He likes the wild stuff but also more straightahead bands and long may that mix continue.
“I also like free jazz stuff myself but I don’t want to get too carried away with that because it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and you might start to lose people who won’t come again if you frighten them. It’s got to be a mix.”
A quick look at the programme for February and March reveals plenty for the regulars to get their teeth into, kicking off with awesome bass player Jasper Høiby in full-on quintet Red Kite (Feb 25) and later gigs including the lyrical combination of pianist Huw Warren with Mark Lockheart’s sax (Mar 11), top trumpeter Laura Jurd guesting with Riaan Vosloo’s Bristol supergroup Commotion and veteran sax player Trevor Watts’ Eternal Triangle (Apr 22), famed for both free jazz playing and the influences of African music.
Club favourites like versatile pianist David Newton (Apr 1), alto sax firebrand James Morton (Mar 25) and the excellent Andy Hague Quintet (Apr 8) are also billed, among others, on the session website.
One thing that Ollie felt needed sorting is the name: FringeJazz was a hangover from Jon’s original rather cramped base at the Bristol Fringe.
After the pandemic he moved to the Bristol Music Club, a quirky Victorian building on Queens Road with a bit more space as well as a couple of proper grand pianos.
Keeping the old name had occasionally misdirected a few people, however, so Ollie has now rebranded the session: “Jon and I discussed this and we’re going to call it Jazz at Bristol Music Club.
“We’ll get a new website to get it all set up. We’ll make a fairly clean break because of the confusions in the past.”
Having recently retired from a long career in IT Ollie happily admits he’s never done anything like this before: “It was difficult at the beginning – I thought: Oh my god – what have I let myself in for?”
As a result he wisely sought the advice of two of the most experienced jazz promoters in Bristol: the Bebop Club’s Andy Hague and Ian Storrer, former landlord of the legendary Bedminster jazz pub The Albert who continues to promote monthly Jazzata gigs at The Beacon.
Both were very supportive and helpful, though Ian warned him that organising a weekly session ‘could amount to a 40 hours a week task’.
Another encouraging thing for Ollie is the jazz life of the city: “It’s a really vibrant scene in Bristol, there’s lots going on, lots of great music.
Ollie Alden (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Ollie is keen for the session to keep its musical identity through the re-launch: “The thing that Andy and Jon came up with – and I’m putting it on our fliers – we’re calling it ‘modern contemporary jazz for the discerning listener’.
“That’s what I want it to carry on being. And our tagline will be ‘art, not product’!”
While acknowledging that not everybody will like every gig on offer – that’s inevitable with a wide ranging programme – he’s hoping that the core audience will keep the faith.
He’s been encouraged by good early ticket sales for the Red Kite session, too.
So no second thoughts about his impetuous decision to take the reins? He laughs: “Not so far – ask me in six months time …”
Main photo: Tony Benjamin
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