MUSIC

(Fri 19 Aug, The Grain Barge, Bristol)

“That …” the grinning guy next to me said, as the last bars of ‘Je T’Aime, Moi Non Plus’ faded away. “That was some special shit!” And he was not wrong. Formed some six months ago, The Pushy Doctors trio has evolved from a well-executed smartarse idea into a real band, and a very special one at that. This evening the Grain Barge is suddenly filled, with musicians and regular ‘jazz suspects’ balanced by new faces, just as Andy Sheppard joins Dan Moore and Tony Orrell on the small stage. The conceit of the Doctors is a deliberately mainstream one – a smooth jazz repertoire, retro-styled to suit the classic Hammond/sax/drums line-up. If they only wore velvet suits, then they could be a 60s wedding band, or the resident musicians from an aspirational cocktail bar. But you’ll never get drummer Orrel into a velvet suit, and so there he sits in African print shirt, grinning his way through the set and doing his best to simultaneously nail down and demolish grooves all night long. Hairy man Moore, increasingly a glint of glasses between mane and beard, makes the exact Hammond sound of Booker T Jones as he hunches over his Nord, while Andy Sheppard’s sax floats in with deceptive restraint. The material is all familiar – ‘Baby Love’, ‘Dear Prudence’, ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ and the aforementioned ‘Je T’aime’ just some of the pop classics on offer, though a version of ‘My Favourite Things’ segued into ‘Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise’ and Wayne Shorter’s ‘Witch Hunt’ are more jazzy choices. But however familiar (and borderline cheesy) the tune, the band truly make it their own, with the kind of collective empathy that mere rehearsal can never create. They stick to the rules throughout: nothing uber-showy, no contemporary abstractions, but they’re acting like three great players of that time, pushing at the envelope of modern jazz while not frightening the horses. Andy may be the ‘star’ but the Pushy Doctor sound is even-handed. It’s a superb concoction, assured and authentic, and when James Morton joins in on alto he has the good sense to play along while adding something of himself to the occasion. Special shit indeed, and as the guy from the A-Team used to say – don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? (Tony Benjamin)

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011