Photo credit: Livia Katay.
In Edinburgh’s seaside suburb of Portobello, the dark autumn evening promised more dourness to come, but clarinettist and saxophonist Dick Lee and his band provided a perfect antidote to such seasonal gloom. It was impossible that their lyrical and cheerful music, together with Lee’s warm personal style could not lighten an audience’s mood.
Dick Lee’s musical including compositional career spans half a century, and has covered multiple musical genres. The music in this evening’s concert reflected this. While such breadth might give pause to jazz purists, it offers pleasure to those valuing musical inclusivity in jazz. The band members, Lee’s flautist wife Anne Evans, Dave Swanson on drums, Joss Seex on guitars, Phil Adams on base guitars, and double bassist Jerry Forde, all commanded their instruments. Lee himself was especially impressive, and one felt that further gigging could only enhance the band’s already impressive tightness.
Two sets were performed, covering 13 tunes, all composed by Lee. Many were commissioned including several written for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Although most definitely not simplistic, the music felt light-hearted with occasional flashes of the comic, including in some of the tune names (Finish The Beguine, Banana Of Doom).
Most notably there were many simply gorgeous melodies. Lee’s warm and cheery presentation style was a bonus, making this a band to seek out if your autumn could do with a little good cheer.