Riding in on the back of the much touted, little evidenced jazz boom, Working Week have cashed in their hard-earned jazz credentials to produce a fine soul-jazz album that boasts the finest Latin big band in town. The harder-edged music essayed at Bracknell last year has given way to a smoother, safer version, largely due to the commercial laundry they’ve been put through by Virgin Records. But many of the old group survives in the freelance horn section to ensure some semblance of credibility remains intact.
Stabbins and Booth should need no introduction, but Julie Roberts is a revelation, her soul background put to good use as the band’s vocal and focal core. Inner City Blues is an update of the Marvin Gaye classic, but the rest are Stabbins/Booth originals, fine numbers all. Autumn Boy is outstanding, its string arrangements and grasshopper percussion imparting just the right listless feel that Stabbins’ soprano exploits to the full, while I Thought lets Burton and Barker rip through some blistering solos over a powerhouse horn section. There is a strong Latin feel to many pieces, particularly the concluding instrumental which has more than a hint of Machito about it. A good album to listen to, even better one to dance to, Working Nights is a world away from the cynical exploitation that is today’s ‘jazz revival’.
Discography
Inner City Blues; Sweet Nothing; Who’s Fooling Who?; I Thought I’d Never See You Again (19.50) – Autumn Boy; Solo; Venceremos; No Cure No Pay (22.15) – Stella Marina: Main Mix (11.50) – Full Rap (10.25)
Julie Roberts (v); Simon Booth (g); Larry Stabbins (ts/sps/arr); plus Kim Burton (p); Roy Dodds. Nic France, Mark Taylor (d); Ernest Mothle, Chucho Merchan (b); Dawson & Bosco D’Olivera, Martin Ditchman (pc); Claudia Figueroa, Leroy Osbourne (v); Robin Millar (g); Guy Barker, Stuart Brooks, Harry Beckett, Paul Spong (t); Paul Nieman, Annie Whitehead, Malcolm Griffiths (tb}; Chris Biscoe (as/bs); Dave Bitelli (cl); Ray Warleigh (bs): Nick Ingman (arr); on Stella Marina, add Julie Tippetts, Jalal (v). Recorded 1983-85, Power Plant Studios, London.
(Virgin Records V2343)
