John Aram’s Jazz Suite Event

Over £112 raised in donations at a performance of John Aram’s jazz suite inspired by ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’

which took place at the Bonnington Theatre, Arnold.

With projections and dialogue from the film version of ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ accompanying the performance, and the proceeds of the band’s raffled CDs kindly donated to the statue fund, it was a night to remember. Our thanks to everyone who donated, and congratulations to the raffle winners!

You can find out more about John Aram’s work at www.johnaram.com

Committee member Viv Apple writes of the evening:

Only at the very beginning did we catch a glimpse of the late Johnny Dankworth’s brilliant score to the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, but those few notes were enough to set the pace for John Aram’s jazz suite, which he conceived and wrote over four years. It was performed by John (trombone), Graeme Blevins (saxophone), Tom Cawley (piano), Arthur Hnatek (drums) and Phil Donkin (bass).

As they played, a huge screen backdrop showing fast moving shapes and colours ‘told’ the story, occasionally punctuated by snatches of pivotal dialogue from the film itself. The climax came just before the end: a long riff with explosive screen effects, representing the scene in which two squaddies are beating up Arthur Seaton.

After the performance, three of the Alan Sillitoe Committee stood with collection buckets as the appreciative audience filed out, and the band generously gave us over £50 from their raffle. Total raised for the Statue Fund was £112.60. Grateful thanks to the band for their musicianship and for their support.

The evocative photographs above were taken by David Sillitoe. That indispensable journal of Nottingham culture, LeftLion, were in attendance and you can read their review here.