Friday 8th November 2024, 8:00 pm: Benny Goodman & Glenn Miller at Carnegie Hall 1939
Jazz Repertory Company is the UK’s premier producer of authentic live recreations of the greatest music in jazz history. Over the last twenty years The Jazz Repertory Company has been presenting a wide variety of shows featuring the UK’s finest jazz musicians including four sell out shows at London’s Cadogan Hall in the last year including: 100 Years of Jazz in 99 Minutes, Louis and The Duke in London 1932-1933, and Benny Goodman Orchestra’s Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert.
Reviews from our Cadogan Hall Shows Including the London Jazz Festival abd other London Concerts, theatre shows and jazz festivals around the world
“Pete Long and his musicians have gone to great lengths to re-create this concert, including original arrangements, period instruments and even the stage seating plan. The result is an evening of fabulous music that swings like crazy, it’s a great night out not to be missed!”
Jon Hancock – Author, ‘Benny Goodman – The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert’.
“Pete Long’s clarinet stood up to Richard Pite’s full power tom-tom drumming on a vintage Slingerland kit of the type played by Gene Krupa. Enrico Tomasso’s “Harry James” trumpet raised the roof. When the Basie-style rhythm section played the long introduction to “One O’Clock Jump” I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
Barry Fox. Hi-Fi News and Record Review – full piece below.
Pete’s career began fairly inauspiciously at the age of 18 deep within the bowels of the Nat West bank in Marble Arch putting bank statements into envelopes. An unfortunate incident involving a picture of a lady and a horse being accidentally sent to the Convent of the Sacred Heart along with their financial records led to a re-think and a few days later, Pete had enrolled at the Royal London College Of Music. After a couple of years of hard study, ruthless self-denial and curry, Pete was out on the road with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and during his time there, got to play all five saxophone parts, the solo flute part, the bass guitar, and on one rather messy occasion, the fourth trumpet. Having the unusual inclination to play modern jazz on the rather “old-fashioned” Clarinet led to several works for Clarinet and big band being commissioned during his stay, and established a tradition of Clarinet solos in NYJO which has plagued the saxophone section ever since.
After the apprenticeship had been served, fame and endless riches were only around the corner in the form of the John Simons Rhumba Showband on the QE2, and Pete’s orange frilly flamenco shirtsleeves and sassy sombrero became one of the familiar sights in the bars, clubs and clinics around the ports of the Caribbean Sea. At this time, Pete acquired the knack of bandleading, assembling ad-hoc ensembles on the ship for various passenger and crew functions. Serious playing work followed on the return to Blighty, as the award winning Sax Quartet “Itchy Fingers” had a job going on Alto Sax. Pete passed the audition, and toured Brazil, Venezuela, North Africa, Russia and Europe during his three year stay there, working with, amongst others, Dizzy Gillespie, John Scofield, Chick Corea and Supersax.
Due to an inspired bit of orchestral management by “a friend”, The bulk of Pete’s work for the next six years was in and around the West End theatres, where his versatility on many different woodwind instruments has stood him in good stead, most notably on the notorious Clarinet solo in the closing sequences of the hit show “Oliver”. During this time, Pete developed an interest in the Oboe, and after a rigorous six-hour a day practice schedule for several months, no calls at all came flooding in, and the oboe went forlornly back under the bed. Some time later, a call came to play a session doubling baritone sax and oboe. That session was for “Handbags and Gladrags” for the hit welsh beat combo “Stereophonics” and the single held a chart position in Europe for the next eighteen months, becoming the single best selling recording in the UK for 2002, a sales figure no doubt boosted by its use as the theme for the comedy series “The Office”.
A five-year stint playing and arranging for with Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, saw Pete working with Tom Jones, Norah Jones, Solomon Burke, Dr. John, Lulu, Georgie Fame and Lionel Richie, to name but a few, and producing arrangements for John Cale, Texas, Sir Paul McCartney, Candi Staton, Marti Pellow and Chrissy Hynde. Pete is also the first musician in Europe to use the Tubax commercially, on a Ringo Starr track, and much more recently with The Guillemots.
Over the last couple of years, Pete’s career has divided into three distinct streams- as an educator, working in master classes and as soloist with young musicians all over Britain, from the furthest point of West Wales to the orchestras at the Royal Academy, The Guildhall and the Royal College. In conjunction with this work, Pete has helped develop a new series of student woodwind instruments with a leading UK Manufacturer. As a jazz soloist, Pete has appeared with resident trios in the provinces, and has often been caught at Ronnie Scott’s, in London’s West End.
It is however, as a bandleader and orchestrator that Pete spends most of his time currently, and directing the Big Band at Ronnie Scott’s alongside his own projects. These include his award-winning repertory orchestra Echoes Of Ellington, whose 2018 album “The Jazz Planets” won the Times “Must Have Jazz CD Of The Year”. Further commissions have involved a re-imagining of Swan Lake in the style of Duke Ellington, and a transcription and re-orchestration of “The Days Of Future Passed” for the Moody Blues. In the course of this work, Pete has provided musicians and arrangements for Claire Sweeney, Jane MacDonald, Humphrey Lytlleton, Sir John Dankworth, the entire cast of Emmerdale (!) and a host of others.
In what is laughingly called his spare time, he makes Airfix planes in his garden shed.
Richard Pite is a full time musician playing drums (mainly) and also double bass and tuba/sousaphone. For many years he specialised in 1920s music & the drum techniques and visual tricks of the era’s jazz drummers. Richard’s drum heroes range from Buddy Rich to Gene Krupa and from Ringo Starr to Charlie Watts.
He also runs The Jazz Repertory Company and The Party Jazz Agency. His speciality is jazz from the 1920s to the 1940s and he has performed regularly with Keith Nichols and The Blue Devils, The Pasadena Roof Orchestra and for 10 years played with and managed The Rio Trio (1986-1996). He regularly performs on drums and bass at Boisdale Canary Wharf and Boisdale Belgravia as well as acting as bandleader and sideman in numerous jazz bands (mainly vintage and mainstream). His most recent musical projects include Soul Shadows (playing the music of Jazz Funk pioneers The Crusaders), Quiet Riot – a band dedicated to playing soul funk and pop with minimal amplification and London Omnibus – a trio performing jazz and popular music of the 20’s and 30’s alongside comedy and vaudeville routines.
Music Director – Jazz Repertory Company: Founder and co-owner of the UK’s premier producer of authentic live recreations of the greatest music in jazz history. Over the last twenty years The Jazz Repertory Company has been presenting a wide variety of shows featuring the UK’s finest jazz musicians including four sell out shows at London’s Cadogan Hall in the last year including: 100 Years of Jazz in 99 Minutes, Louis and The Duke in London 1932-1933, and Benny Goodman Orchestra’s Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert.
Music Director – Party Jazz Agency: Founder of this long established live music agency (started in 1987) which specialises in jazz, blues, soul and funk music programming for corporate, private and public clients, parties, functions, product launches, corporate events, weddings, TV, film and radio events.
Website: https://www.jazzrep.co.uk
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