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Mel Tormé 100 - SSBB & Alice Grace

Updated: 2 hours ago

All arrangements and transcriptions by Stuart McLean-Fowler



I love Mel Tormé, I love SSBB, I love Alice Grace, I love Latin music.  The question was: would the combination of all four work? The answer - a qualified yes.


Based around one of Tormé's lesser known albums, Olé Tormé!, which consisted of twelve Billy May arrangements - meticulously and accurately transcribed by Stuart Fowler - of Latin based numbers, some of which were familiar and some less so.


The band performed them to perfection the section work a tribute to May's arranging skills and the band's faultless execution. To ensure the authenticity of the project, marimba and tuba were added to the line-up and, in the reed section, at various times, I spotted five saxes, five flutes, a couple of bass clarinets, three piccolos and three or four B♭ clarinets.


At the Crossroads (Malaguena); Frenesi (beautiful guitar/vocal intro); Adios; Baia; Six Lessons With Madame La Zonga; Rosita; South of the Border; Nina; Cuban Love Song; Perfidia; Rhumba Jump; Vaya Con Dios


Before we hightailed down Mexico way the band cut loose on a few more conventional big band numbers. The Ted Heath version of Old Man River (punchy solo from leader Lamb); Moanin' (featuring Toms on tenor, Rushton trumpet, Don piano and PJ on guitar); Kenton's Dynaflow (Robinson alto, Don piano) and I Love Paris (Parnaby trombone).


The band, and Alice did the 'Velvet Fog' proud on the day when he would have been one hundred years and a day old. Lance


Michael Lamb (MD/trumpet); Dick Stacey, Billy Bradshaw, Tom Rushton (trumpets); Mark Ferris, Kieran Parnaby, Chris Kurgi-Smith, John Flood (trombones); Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Jamie Toms, Matthew Forster, Sue Ferris (reeds); Graham Don (piano); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar, banjo); Michael Whent (bass guitar); David McKeague (drums); Alice Grace (vocals); Steve Malcolm (tuba); Mark Edwards (marimba)



📸 Photos: Victoria Lamb





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