Philip Robert ‘Phil’ Lee. Born 8 April 1943. Died 12 May 2024

The post Phil Lee (1943-2024) first appeared on UK Jazz News.

The sad news has just reached us that saxophonist Willie Garnett passed away yesterday 15 October 2021. As one musician has just described him to me, “he was the nicest of us all.”

As bandleader of his own big band, into which I was very fortunate to play several times as a dep, as a woodwind repairer who would often ask not to be paid…his unbelievable kindness, his unflappable good nature, his generosity, and his good-natured humour were always to the fore. His strong and cutting sound, the joy and the fluency in his playing are unforgettable. Sympathies to Alex and to the family.

Stan Sulzmann has kindly sent in this tribute:

Such sad news to hear . Willy was a ‘one-off’ and a genuinely lovely man. Generous to a fault which stretched to absolutely everybody be it young, old, students starting out or famous names. Willy was definitely a ‘the glass is half full’ person in all its senses. He spread joy and humour sharing loads of great stories should you have visited his workshop which was often more of a meeting place for sax players, or gigging with him in his Big band or at a Bulls Head Tony Lee guest night.. In particular he gave a great deal of encouragement and support to those starting out in a tough profession. I was one who received such support from one of the numerous benefit concerts that he organized when a musician was ill, had an accident or hit hard times. The world is a poorer place and Willy will be sadly missed by us all.

Peter Kaczmarski of Jazz Café Posk: I feel very honoured to have known Willie Garnett. The Willie Garnett Big Band was the cornerstone of our programming at Jazz Café POSK for the last 15 years. His set lists consisted of the great classics from the Big Band songbook, and it was evident the musicians enjoyed playing with him. On the microphone his humour was very tongue-in-cheek, with cheerful banter aimed at the band and allowing each player to shine, giving them regular name checks and a solo spot. He was a genuine jazz man with encyclopaedic knowledge and would arrive with a full trolley’s worth of charts, smiling and enthusiastic about planning out the set list for the evening. I spoke to Willie recently, and he was very eager to get back to gigging in his regular Friday slots. He had a loyal audience, and over the years his evenings became a community of music loving friends with many of the same faces turning up every month, some even from beyond London, travelling especially in and booking local hotels to save them from the late night trip home. Willie Garnett was a true jazz musician, a craftsman and a really nice fellow. He will be always remembered. May he Rest in Peace.

Frank Griffith writes:

Willie was a cuddly bear of a man, not just in his persona, appearance and the way he played, but also in the way he communicated with both the audience and the band.

He played both alto and tenor sax equally well, but had a different approach to each instrument: his tenor was blues-drenched, recalling the gruff and grizzled legacies of Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Don Byas, whereas his alto summoned a more hard bop quality of Lou Donaldson and  Jackie McClean.

This would serve him well as  a member of the Charlie Watts Big Band in the late 1980s. An ever expanding sax section that ended up boasting about 12 strong!

For London-based saxists, Willie was the ever helpful and generous repairman who often preferred “bevys” to “readys”.

Baritone saxist, Pete Lukas, has a story that sums up Willie’s sense of humour, and his particular take on jazz scene “chancers”. “He was so funny. I did my CD launch gig in Crouch End in 2006 and this very dapper older black guy introduced himself and said he was Lucky Thompson. I knew he wasn’t but went along with his BS. When I told Willie he said  ‘I’ve met him! He’s not  Lucky Thompson and I’ve heard him and he’s not even lucky! (Not to mention that Lucky died in 2005!)

Willie was a one-off and  a great Jazz force on the London scene. May he rest in peace.

We welcome further tributes.

Willie Garnett. Born Haifa, British Palestine, 25 August 1938, Died London 15 October 2021

The post RIP Willie Garnett first appeared on UK Jazz News.

“Early in 2020 like many colleagues, I found myself left high and dry for creative output as the pandemic took a hold. I took a leap of faith into recording virtually as the only foreseeable option, which was a daunting prospect. “No previous experience” but up for learning.

“Having played some great UK concerts as a guest with the Swiss trio Vein over a previous couple of years I was so disappointed at the inevitable cancellation of our short tour in UK and Ireland at the end of 2020.

“For quite some time a couple of the young members of my Neon Orchestra , particularly Tom Walsh had broached the idea of a virtual recording of some of my big band music.

“As always young musicians were already finding a way to experiment with this option. So I thought ok maybe I could combine Vein with an ensemble of players from here, and Jim Hart in the Alsace recording virtually. Vein had already issued such a recording ‘ The Chamber Music Effect’ which sounded lovely.

“This collection is the result. Great! A Lockdown Project to work on which involved writing some new compositions and arrangements whilst learning a little about recording virtually without the live interaction we all so love. I’d already heard some excellent large ensemble recordings as in Billy Marrows ‘Genmaicha’ with the Patchwork Orchestra which inspired me to want to get involved in the possibilities and not be beaten by the demoralising circumstances that we all faced. No live Music-making! I set out to make an albums worth of music, culminating in 6 varied pieces:

• ‘Chu Chu’ (originating from my trio NEON)
• ‘Between Moons’ (a commission from composer John Taylor from my 65th Birthday tour)
• ‘Shadow Painting’ from my 70th tour in 2019 ….plus three new pieces
• ‘Love for Sale’ (the Cole Porter classic) blended with ‘Resolution’ ( John Coltrane) into one long arrangement that was premiered on a Royal Academy socially distanced Big Band online concert, itself another new experience in a great new
  theatre but with no audience.
• An arrangement of ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’ ( Joe Sample & Will Jennings from The Crusaders) I just always liked this
  tune sung by Randy Crawford.
• Finally a brand new composition ‘Mon Ami’ which reflects this project at a time when we were all thinking about our
  friends and personal and musical relationships, not to mention what does the future hold in store for us all!
  

“I chose one piece ‘Mon Ami’ to be available on YouTube to introduce the project and direct to the download link on Bandcamp for donations to Medecins Sans Frontieres. In addition I decided to make a mobile collage of photos of the contributors, their families and of friends past and present, some sadly no longer with us. I hope people may find this fun and maybe play ‘spot the people and places’ in some of the older pictures. My son Ian kindly put this together for me, and my friend Nick Smart provided the ‘calm’ sea and sunrise movie for the opening and closing as well as several of the photos.

I hope you enjoy this music as much as we enjoyed making it. – Stan Sulzmann”

Note: Legendary British saxophonist Stan Sulzmann has been a hugely influential figure at the forefront of British Jazz for nearly 50 years. In November 2018 he celebrated his 70th Birthday by touring with his acclaimed cross-generational Neon Orchestra. Alongside his famous collaborations with the likes of Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor, Stan has inspired countless members of the new jazz generation. Widely regarded as one of the truly original jazz voices as both composer and improviser, Stan Sulzmann has been at the vanguard of every significant development of the music since the 1960’s.

Personnel / Credits:

Stan Sulzmann – tenor sax
VEIN:
Michael Arbenz – piano
Florian Arbenz – drums
Thomas Laehns – bass

Alex Munk – guitar
Jim Hart – vibraphone
Phil Todd – flute (5)
Trumpets – Tom Walsh, James Copus, George Hogg, Nick Smart
Trombones – Mark Nightingale, Olli Martin, Harry Maund
Saxes – Matt Sulzmann, Sam Glaser, Tom Barford, James Allsopp

Produced by Jim Hart
Mixed and Mastered by Alex Bonney
Executive Producer – Stan Sulzmann
Project Consultant – Elaine Crouch

TRACK LISTING:

1. Love For Sale/Resolution (Cole Porter/John Coltrane)
2. Mon Ami (Stan Sulzmann)
3. Shadow Painting (Stan Sulzmann)
4. Between Moons (John Taylor)
5. One Day I’ll Fly Away (Joe Sample/Will Jennings)
6. Chu Chu (Stan Sulzmann)
   

PRESS RELEASE ENDS

The post Stan Sulzmann and Vein release ‘Mon Ami’ first appeared on UK Jazz News.