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​Sketches of a Northern Town
Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2007

I was uncertain as to what I would make of trumpeter Neil Yates’ project “Sketches Of A Northern Town”. Stockport born Yates originally premiered his work at the Manchester Jazz Festival and the music draws on the brass band tradition as well as jazz. Accompanied by visuals supplied by Jo Hinchcliffe the music traces the rise and decline of the mills and factories of Northern England and their subsequent regeneration in recent years. The stories of the people involved are also alluded to in this musical illustration of social history.
At Cheltenham the suite was performed by Yates Tarnished Silver Band in the beautiful surroundings of St. Andrews Church which possesses the perfect acoustic for this type of project. A free brochure given to each audience member at the door allowed one to follow the music perfectly.

With the exception of Robert Turner’s drums every instrument of the eight-piece band was from the brass family with Yates on his own at the front as principal soloist and the rest of the band sat in a semi circle behind him. Before commencing to play Yates explained the concept of the suite.

Hinchcliffe’s visuals added greatly to the music which was presented in three “canvasses”. The first “Lowry’s Times” depicted the working life of the mill with the visuals being shown on two flat screen TVs rather than the usual projector screen. The opening visuals depicted Northern brass bands and factories, whilst musically Yates’ use of the Harmon mute recalled the sound of Miles Davis.

Some musical set pieces were particularly effective especially “Inside The Mill” featuring Turner’s percussion and the brass players drumming on their instruments or music stands to replicate the noise and clamour of the working mill whilst Yates’ open horn pierced the din.
The works of L.S.Lowry were incorporated into the visuals and the “Sad News” concerning the closure of the mill was suitably valedictory.

Canvas Two “Derelict Years” began with Turner tolling a bell to mark the “Closing Of The Gates”. The brass players then paraded into the body of the church bouncing notes of the walls and utilising the superb acoustics to illustrate the “Echoes In The Emptiness”. This set piece was effective, moving and well done.
Visually the decay of the mills was represented by overgrown vegetation, barbed wire and graffiti. Turner’s atmospheric percussion and a lonely tenor horn set the musical atmosphere. “The Winds Of Change” were marked by a duet by second trumpeter Percy Pursglove and Richard Iles on flugelhorn. The music subsequently became more upbeat as “Renovations” commenced.
Canvas Three “New Lives, Old Bricks” was represented visually firstly by architect’s plans, then by buildings undergoing renovation and finally the gleaming finished product. Katrina Marzella’s solo baritone horn bound the various sections together as the music became more joyous and animated.

I’ve never been a fan of brass bands and had approached this project with some trepidation. However thanks to Yates’ skilful composition and arrangements synchronised with Hinchcliffe’s visuals it worked brilliantly and was a genuinely memorable piece of work. Yates was at the heart of things throughout and his technical ability was superb. He’s come a long way since his days as a tentative soloist in Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop.

The audience was suitably enthused to bring the band back for an encore, but I had a ticket for the next gig and had to make a rapid exit. Still at least I had seen heard the suite in its entirety and had been very pleasantly surprised.

The brochure had been produced for the Manchester festival and there were a few line up changes I didn’t catch so apologies to any musicians I’ve left unaccredited, especially the trombone soloist at the end of Canvas One.

Review by Ian Mann