‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ with The Pasadena Roof Orchestra - Review

Posted on: 2018-04-10

Our rating:

The musical virtuosity of everyone - pianist, clarinettist, saxophonist, drummer, banjo player - intermittently took centre stage to amaze and wow the audience with their gob-smacking, professional musical mastery.


On a drab, grey, drizzly Sunday afternoon, my spirits were immeasurably lifted - along with those of a near-capacity crowd at Bristol's St George's on Sunday 8th April 2018 - by the infectiously bright and breezy performances of 1920s and 30s dance hall and jazz music by the utterly sensational, insanely talented Pasadena Roof Orchestra.

 

With a roster of classic tunes from the depression era at their disposal, their show - 'Puttin' on the Ritz' - was a joyous blast, a revelatory hoot, a certified success that kept everyone merrily singing along and smiling like loons in a hazy, nostlagia-coated cocoon for well over two hours.  

 

Hosted by band leader Duncan Galloway - a mirthful, spirited, gregarious compere if ever there was one - both he and the ensemble were on eye-poppingly, ear-rousingly top form, performing hits by the likes of Fred Astaire, Cole Porter and Bing Crosby, interspersed with utterly superb, stand-out arrangements of catchy, swinging big band tunes penned by Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. 

Pasadena Orchestra Bristol Review

High Society, Cheek to Cheek, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and As Time Goes By (immortalised in that celluloid classic, Casablanca) were like a winsome, refreshingly yesteryear blast of fresh air. There's a reason why they call these songs timeless, and listening to them performed with such fine and faultless musicianship really was like a wonderfully indulgent, wistful trip down memory lane.

 

I was initially just expecting a show of back-to-back renditions from the great American songbook repertoire (which actually would have been phenomenal enough), but what were treated to was a lot more than that. Betwixt the songs was something akin to vaudevillian theatrics, sometimes leaning towards musical hall, variety performance-style shenanigans, with Galloway (an ebullient blend of singer, dancer, comedian and showman) and his fellow musical compadres engaging in banter, tomfoolery and cheeky on-stage antics that truly was a delightful, unexpected treat. 

 

Their jokes and comic interplay was a hoot, elevating everything from merely a concert to a much more immersive, fun-packed experience. If ever there was the perfect antidote to the grim weather and relentless, daily onslaught of seemingly depressing, gloomy news, this is the kind of show that puts a spring in your step, a smirk a mile wide on your face, and the realisation that all is actually not that bad with the world. This stuff worked in the 20s and 30s and still even now maintains its giddy, bewitching power to enchant, beguile and make you feel good about life.

 

And while the entire ensemble was absolutely breathtaking with their collective, superlative covers and tight, crisp, ballsy sound, individual performers were also given their own chance to shine in the spotlight. So the musical virtuosity of everyone - pianist, clarinettist, saxophonist, drummer, banjo player - intermittently took centre stage to amaze and wow the audience with their gob-smacking, professional musical mastery.  

 

If truth be told, I'd never heard of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra (who, impressively, have been performing classic dance and jazz tunes since 1969) before. But, as the old adage goes: first impressions count. And based on my introductory, thrilling experience with this magnificent, talented, audaciously entertaining collective of music-making, crowd-pleasing legends, I'll definitely be coming back for more.  



Article by:

Jamie Caddick

Jamie is a writer, blogger, journalist, critic, film fan, soundtrack nerd and all-round Bristolian good egg.  He loves the music of Philip Glass, the art of Salvador Dali, the writings of Charles Bukowksi and Hunter S Thompson, the irreverence of Harry Hill, and the timeless, straw-chomping exuberance of The Wurzels.  You can sometimes find him railing against a surging tide of passing cyclists, or gorging himself senseless on the Oriental delights of a Cosmos all-you-can-eat buffet.