This was an oddity - a mainly pleasant oddity. The Raymond Scott Sextet was a quirky little band popular in the 1930s. Their music bore a superficial resemblance to the John Kirby Sextet but without the innate jazz credentials of the latter. Nevertheless, they were tuneful and much of their music was infectious - not least because of the titles: War Dance of the Wooden Indians, Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals, New Years Eve in a Haunted House etc.
From my seat in the stalls of Hall Two I watched clips of a forthcoming documentary on Scott by his son, Stan Warnow, who introduced the concert. The clips faded and the stage lights came up to reveal the Stu Brown Sextet who then went into some of Scott's original scores playing it absolutely authentically.
There were more clips this time of Looney Tunes cartoons of which Raymond Scott provided the background music plus a slide compilation of drawings by schoolchildren who had drawn them as a reaction to the music played.
The Stu Brown Sextet played their contemporary versions of Scott classics and, as Scott was a pioneering force in developing musical electronics so the sextet did likewise.
One doomy theme played on a 'Wind Synthesiser' was commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council - why wasn't I surprised?
Still it was an enjoyable couple of hours of escapism that drew attention to the memory of a largely forgotten figure.
Lance.
Jazz in the North East and beyond
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