Tony Pitt All Stars
In Tony’s own words:
‘The Spirit of the Sixties’
They say we shouldn’t look back. Sod ‘erm!! I still get a buzz from the 60’s, most of which I spent in Acker’s Paramount Jazzband, loving every minute.
Not surprisingly, when I was asked, about four years ago, to put a band together for, supposedly, a one-off gig at a west country jazz club, I chose musicians who I thought would best play the hot foot tapping traditional jazz that we all enjoyed playing and listening/dancing to in those far off days, during which most of them were to be heard, variously, in the bands of Monty Sunshine, Terry Lightfoot, Alan Elsdon and Kenny Ball.
Since that gig, the band has, I’m please to say, assumed a life of its own and, while I can’t go back to the sixties, it takes me as close as I can get. We’d love you to come with us!
Lotsa luv, Tony Pitt
Email: tony.r.pitt@btinternet.com
In the words of Andy Lawrence:
Let’s pause for a minute and roll away the years, sadly quite a few, back to the late 50’s and 60’s.
These were the halcyon days of ‘British trad’. Bands like Ken Colyer, Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Terry Lightfoot, Alan Elsdon and many others, were at their peak of their popularity. The music they played was based on New Orleans jazz, skiffle and ‘the blues’. They were heavily rhythm driven, generated tremendous energy and enthusiasm and looked as though they enjoyed doing it!
Remember, possibly through an alcoholic haze, those all-nighters at the 51 Club the Ally Pally, the 100 club, the Marquee and countless venues all over the country.
This music was our music, the purists may not have liked it, it kept them awake! We didn’t care.
Tony’s band sets out to revive the atmosphere and vitality of those days and, judging by the reaction and comments, to-date, it succeeds.
Go on, treat yourselves, your club may seem an even better place to be.
Andy Lawrence.
Band line-up:
Tony Pitt – banjo
Alan Gristly - cornet
Dave Hewett – trombone
Adrian Cox – clarinet
Andy Lawrence – bass; and
Matt Skipping - Drums