A man dubbed as ‘the UK’s finest double bass player’ made a surprise guest appearance at the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival’s final gig on Sunday.
Dave Green popped up at Snobs on Broad Street when the Barcelona-based quartet The Swing Cats were about to play their second set. You can watch our video of the rare performance here:
Dave, by the way, was best childhood friends with the late Charlie Watts, who went on to become the founding drummer of The Rolling Stones.
Festival director Jim Simpson was there on Sunday and grabbed the mic to say: “Something very, very, very special is about to happen. It’s an extraordinary privilege to present Dave Green guesting with this terrific band.”
And then Dave joined The Swing Cats for their rendition of Mean to Me. First published in 1929 by Fred E Alert and Royo Turk, this popular song has been recorded by the likes of Billie Holliday, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra.
The guest appearance was all the more remarkable as Dave is now aged 82 and was only introduced to the quartet one minute before playing with them.
Dave’s career includes 20 years with Humphrey Lyttleton, leading his own group Fingers, backing major US stars at Ronnie Scott’s and being a founder member of Charlie Watts’ own quintet.
Just before joining The Swing Cats, Dave told me about his days playing with Charlie Watts: “We were such good friends and, even though he died three ago now, I still really miss him.”
He added: “I really can’t stop because I haven’t eaten all day, so I’m going to play one song and then I’m out for a meal!”
Dave’s performing instinct then kicked in and, without any warming up of his fingers, he was snapping the strings of an unfamiliar instrument and sounding like he’d been a Swing Cat all his life.
Six minutes later, he slipped out into Broad Street’s warm night air to seek out a place to satiate his hunger.
Jim said: “It’s absolutely fantastic that Dave did that – he really is this country’s greatest-ever double bass player. And if he was tremendous, so were The Swing Cats. For me, that was the highlight of the entire festival. I am so pleased.”
The Swing Cats formed ten years ago as a trio, although German-Indonesian singer Jacqueline Djohar is now the quartet’s vocalist.
As the 40th Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival closed, Jim announced that the 41st Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival would run from 18 to 27 July next year.
Pictures and video for Westside BID by Graham Young
ENDS
