Big-band Jazz and Choral Traditions

MIKE WHEELER listens to
music by Will Todd and Nils Lindberg,
performed by Derby Choral Union
with the Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra

Five years ago, Derby Choral Union and conductor Richard Dacey moved into the choral jazz repertoire in the shape of Will Todd's Mass in Blue. An equally successful return visit for their latest Christmas concert brought the Magnificat from Todd's Durham Jazz Evensong, and A Christmas Cantata by Swedish composer Nils Lindberg, composed in 2002 and receiving, we were told, only its second UK performance (Derby Cathedral, Derby, UK, 17 December 2016).

The choir teamed up this time with the Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra, directed by John Ruddick, who had a slot to themselves, bringing an infectious sense of swing to classy arrangements of seasonal favourites such as Irving Berlin's Let it Snow, and Mel Tormé's The Christmas Song, with some fine saxophone, trumpet and trombone solos. There were, though, some balance issues with the choir, particularly in the Todd Magnificat, and occasionally with the soloists in the Lindberg...