One Jump Ahead

Everybody Loves a Boogie

ELAB front cover

It’s been a long time since our last album, “One Foot in the Groove”. Thankyou for waiting! This one is aimed primarily at peoples’ feet with plenty of steady grooves at various tempos which we hope will inspire them to get up and dance. As usual it’s a mix of covers (some of which I’ve messed around a bit) and my own songs. If you don’t want to dance to them, I hope that some of them will at least raise a smile. While some of the recordings were made earlier this year, some were originally recorded in 2017 and others way back in 2009. Consequently, there’s quite a variety of personnel involved, especially in the rhythm section. Kenrick Rowe plays drums on most of these tracks but Derek Gayle takes over on a few. Nick Tomalin is on piano for all the most recent material but Perry White is on the 2009 tracks. Similarly, Alex Keen is the double-bassist on the newer songs with Olly Blanchflower in that role for the earlier items. Simon Da Silva is our trumpeter throughout the album and Tracey Mendham plays tenor sax on most tracks and clarinet on a couple. Guitar is mostly by Steve Knight but John O’Reilly also contributed a couple of tasty solos on the more recent tracks. I, Kit Packham, sing all the lead vocals and play alto sax with some added baritone or tenor sax on several numbers.

The running order is as follows:

Everybody Loves a Boogie 3:21 by Kit Packham

Don’t Clap on the First Beat of the Bar 3:38 by Kit Packham

Old Rock’n’Roll Songs Never Die 4:19 by Kit Packham

Don’t Get Around Much Any More 3:44 by Bob Russell & Duke Ellington

Love Me Love My Saxophone 2:36 by Kit Packham

Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby 3:05 by Billy Austin & Louis Jordan

Route 66 2:51 by Bobby Troup

Alley Club Blues 2:52 by Kit Packham

As Time Goes By 3:25 by Herman Hupfeld

Alright, Okay, You Win 3:11 by Sid Wyche & Mayme Watts

Lockdown Chase 2:36 by Kit Packham

My Funny Valentine 3:41 by Lorenz Hart & Richard Rodgers

I Dig Potatoes 3:24 by Kit Packham

Basingstoke 2:24 by Harry Akst & Benny Davis

Buy a CD 3:21 by Gilles Thibaud, Claude Francois, Paul Anka & Jacques Revaux

We Had a Real Good Time / We’ll Meet Again (medley) 4:48 We Had a Real Good Time by Kit Packham. We’ll Meet Again by Hughie Charles & Ross Parker

LINK TO SOUNDCLOUD: https://on.soundcloud.com/9SZXw

REVIEWS:

from BLUES MATTERS
KIT PACKHAM’S ONE JUMP AHEAD
EVERYBODY LOVES A BOOGIE
Pelican Records CD
What a pleasant surprise. If you like to jive to the infectious old Louis Jordan beat, if you love Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles or Mose Allison, then here’s a British act which has been on the boards since 1984, and after 39 years they’ve lost none of their youthful drive. Slim Gaillard would have fitted in perfectly here. This isn’t a screaming blues guitar album. There are eleven musicians in this cracking band, led by Kit Packham, who plays tenor, baritone and alto sax, plus clarinet. Kit Packham takes lead vocals on 15 of the 16 tracks. There are classic, uplifting contributions penned by some of the greats such as Duke Ellington, Rodgers & Hart and Louis Jordan. Their version of Route 66 is a true spirit-lifter, and the title track, Everybody Loves a Boogie will have your jump suit flapping in seconds. Alley Club Blues has a terrific, louche style complete with the band harmonising on the choruses. This is a collection of musical gems you could play loud at any party, and it cuts across any age group. Everything has a great jazz bounce and listening to it on a rainy afternoon would bring a ray of sunshine into anyone’s life. If you’re pigged off with the world, lying politicians, the doomy horizon, then Kit Packham’s ebullient crew are all the therapy you need.
ROY BAINTON
from UK Rock & Roll
KIT PACKHAM’S ONE JUMP AHEAD
EVERYBODY LOVES A BOOGIE
Formed in 1984, One Jump Ahead are led by singer/saxophonist Kit Packham and play rock’n’roll, R&B and jump jive laced with jazzy overtones in a style that gets all generations up and dancing. The musical chops of the band members are obvious, and confidence is emphasised by Kit’s liking for amusing lyrics, both in his own compositions and interpretations of the songs of others.
Kit composed eight of the cuts on this collection, and when not writing his own songs he clearly likes the odd amusing rewrite, My Swingin’ Valentine being an appealing lyrical rework of My Funny Valentine, and Buy a CD, based musically on the ultimate standard, My Way – not to my taste but a smart adaptation nonetheless. Kit also decides to either enthral or outrage the inhabitants of Basingstoke by rewriting Baby Face using that town as subject matter. Concentrating on the reworded songs however ignores the fact that Kit provides the band with some excellent originals in their own right, especially the jaunty instrumental ‘Lockdown Chase’ reminiscent of a 70’s TV theme.
The band handle Duke Ellington’s Don’t Get Around Much Anymore with aplomb, as they do the ubiquitous Route 66, and you get the impression that this band could grapple with any given tune and make a swingin’ success of it. A slight gripe from me is that the production is a bit ‘clean’, but that’s coming from a distortion-raddled old rocker, I guess the sound clarity is of benefit in showcasing the previously mentioned top-notch playing, whether that be in the well-timed, concise solos or unison playing where every instrument makes itself heard. There’s especially good saxophone playing throughout.
The CD is a fine document of a band who no doubt fully come to life on stage, and its well worth a punt if you are inclined to dance around the house. Only one thing is missing – only live will you experience Kit’s sartorial excellence!.
JOHNNY HOP
from JAZZ JOURNAL
Kit Packham’s One Jump Ahead: Everybody Loves A Boogie
The entertaining British jump-jive revival band ploughs the familiar furrow, offering cheeky covers and originals with occasional solos
By Hugh Rainey -13 October 2023437
Formed in 1984, this UK group plays jump-jive in a bright and breezy, entertaining style, blended with R&B and vintage rock and roll, and seasoned with light-hearted humour. Leader Kit Packham sings confidently in appropriate style on every track bar one, and contributes alto and tenor to the backing throughout.
Packham also composed and wrote the lyrics for eight of the tracks and alternative lyrics for some cheeky adaptations of standards – My Swingin’ Valentine (an upbeat treatment of My Funny Valentine, which surprisingly works quite well) and the very funny Basingstoke (to the melody of Baby Face) and Buy A CD (with appropriate uninhibited bathos to My Way).
On the whole, the originals work well for the genre. Love Me, Love My Saxophone and I Dig Potatoes have amusing lyrics somewhat reminiscent of Louis Jordan and Slim Gaillard in style. Enjoyable versions of Don’t Get Around Much Any More, Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby and My Swingin’ Valentine, come closest to straightforward jazz treatment with some worthwhile brief solos and touches of arrangement.
The tracks come from sessions in 2009, 2017 and 2023, mainly as six or seven piece lineups it seems, but with changing personnels. Though studio recorded, the CD comes across as cheery live entertainment – for dancers, rather than perhaps for close, serious listening. But it’s certainly good fun, with some inventive fresh material, and a sense of humour to give a welcome lift to your spirits in these troubled times.
Discography
Everybody Loves A Boogie; Don’t Clap On The First Beat Of The Bar; Old Rock “n” Roll Songs Never Die; Don’t Get Around Much Any More; Love Me, Love My Saxophone; Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby; Route 66; Alley Club Blues; As Time Goes By; Alright, OK, You Win; Lockdown Chase; My Swingin’ Valentine; I Dig Potatoes; Basingstoke; Buy A CD; We Had A Real Good Time/We’ll Meet Again (53.52)
Collectively: Kit Packham (v, ts, as, bar, cl); Nick Tomalin, Perry White (p); John O’Reilly (g); Steve Knight (g, ts, bj); Alex Keen, Ollie Blanchflower (b); Derek Gayle, Kenrick Rowe (d); Simon Da Silva (t); Tracey Mendham (ts, cl). UK, 2009, 2017, 2023 (No further details.)
Pelican records PEL CD 523

from BLUES IN BRITAIN

Kit Packham’s One Jump Ahead: Everybody Loves a Boogie. Pelican Records

While continuing to bounce effervescent jive bump and boogie around their Home Counties heartland, One Jump Ahead mark their 40th anniversary with a top toe-tapping album compiled from three separate sessions. Here we have material recorded this year, in 2017 and way back in 2009, which of course results in a lengthy cast of characters but the end product is strong and you can’t see the join!

Packham leads the show leaping boldly into a highly syncopated 1940s musical world inhabited by the likes of Louis Jordan with tongue-in-cheek lyrics, jumping rhythm and brassy solos. He himself features on alto, tenor and baritone saxes and even pens the role-affirming ‘Love Me Love My Saxophone’. The alto sound, supplemented by Simon Da Silva’s trumpet, can help push the appropriate feel, completed by big jazzy guitar and piano aplomb from Nick Tomalin and Perry White. Tracey Mendham is the leading contender among three top tenor players.

There are covers aplenty among a varied selection of interesting originals. A swaggering and impressive reading of the jazz standard ‘Alright, OK, You Win’ is perfectly pitched, while the ensemble appear to be firmly on home turf with a bouncy and brassy rendition of Louis Jordan’s ‘Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby’. There is plenty of wit and humour in Packham’s originals, in part an homage to the stars of the scene he aims to emulate but with some unusual results. The title-track opener is a wonderful calling-on song for the faithful to get up and dance, fine lyrics, bouncy piano, big jazzy guitar, all underplayed by some smooth brass which elsewhere swings and struts. ‘Don’t Clap On The First Beat of the Bar’ also swings instinctively but what is seemingly intended as a gentle tongue-in-cheek admonishment of ‘unhip’ audiences (here including “children and their nannies, total squares and wrinkled grannies”) almost comes across as real annoyance merely dressed up as humour. ‘Bugbear Boogie’ anyone?

Packham rewrites ‘Route 66’ as a clever and amusing homage to the M23 (sic) and ‘Baby Face’ becomes ‘Basingstoke’. But the final two tracks are strange choices. Pleading ‘Buy a CD’ to the tune of ‘My Way’ is an amusing end-of-gig ploy but its inclusion on a studio set is odd and the merch table promotion is then extended to the finale ‘We’ll Meet Again’. Consider them bonus tracks to a fine selection from a band still on top form.

John Bottomley

Price: £9.99
 
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