Makin' Whoopee play an exhilarating blend of jazz originals and standards, drawing inspiration from the 1950's west coast 'cool school' of Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and Art Pepper mixed with the classic vocal performances of the great song stylists such as Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald.

Makin' Whoopee are Frank Taylor, Dave Holdsworth, Rachel Bundy and Herbie Flowers.

The Komedia, Brighton. 26th February 2002.
The Komedia, Brighton. 26th February 2002.

Herbie Flowers: double bass. HerbieFlowers
Double-bass maestro and entertainer extraordinaire...
Herbie Flowers has had an enviable career in the music business. He was a pop star in the early seventies, playing with the likes of David Bowie and Marc Bolan. At one time his name was virtually synonymous with the expression 'session musician' - if you wanted a bass player you booked Herbie.
As a result he has appeared on literally thousands of hit recordings by artists as diverse as McCartney, Mancini, Sinatra and the Scaffold. He is, perhaps, best known for his portamento bass-line on Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side and for being one of the founder members of Sky (along with John Williams). He has also played tuba with many of the world's leading symphony orchestras.
Most recently Herbie has appeared with Jools Holland, Clannad and McCartney and is finding a new element to his career as a raconteur, appearing with Mike Hatchard. Their recent appearance at the Purcell Room with Selena Jones was a sell-out success.
Click here for album details with Mike Hatchard.

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Frank Taylor: guitar. Frank Taylor
Frank Taylor has been playing guitar since a teenager in London, and his original musical inspiration was mainly from American folk songs and blues, particularly the music of Huddie Ledbetter. After several years performing on the London folk music scene, including a spell with a well-known Bluegrass group of the time, the Country Strings, he started to develop an interest in other forms of guitar music and first started listening to jazz in the early 1960's, with Joe Pass, Jim Hall and of course Django Reinhardt being some of his main influences at this time, at least as far as the guitar was concerned.
His wife Ellen, who met Frank through her singing around this time, brought her appreciation of Billie Holiday to bear on his musical education, and this in turn helped to broaden Frank's musical knowledge and repertoire. He also studied classical guitar for a period, but it was a visit to Ronnie Scott's club in London in the late 60's which finally sealed his musical fate, when he heard and saw the legendary jazz-guitarist Wes Montgomery, deciding this was the music closest to his ideal.
Since moving to Brighton in the early 70's he has become a stalwart of the local jazz scene having shared the stand on various occasions with Jimmy Witherspoon, Tony Coe, Bobby Wellins, Joe Lee Wilson and Al Casey. For several years he was an integral part of the Geoff Simkins Quartet with whom he recorded. Since the break-up of this quartet in the late 80's, he has freelanced in his own right and continues to develop in his own musical direction.
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Dave Holdsworth: trumpet & valve trombone. Dave Holdsworth
b. 1942
Over the last 25 years Dave Holdsworth has been a member of and featured soloist with many of the most important jazz units in the UK including the bands/orchestras of Mike Westbrook, Barry Guy, Tony Oxley, Mike Osborne, Chris McGregor, Herbie Flowers and Tim Richards, in addition to leading, composing and arranging for bands of his own, most recently:-
  • Rhythm-A-Ning - a nine piece band playing the music of Thelonious Monk.
  • Sathima - a seven-piece band playing the music of Abbdullah Ibrahim.
  • The Dave Holdsworth Quartet and Trio.
He has many radio broadcasts to his credit and his recordings include:-
  • with Mike Westbrook: Celebration/Release/Love Songs/Metropolis/Marching Song.
  • with Spirit Level: Mice in the Wallet/Proud Owners.
  • with Tony Oxley: Incus 6.
  • with London Jazz Composers Orchestra: Ode.
  • with Herbie Flowers: Shuffle Jazz.
  • Dave Holdsworth - Liane Carroll Quartet: Ten Day Simon.
  • Dave Holdsworth Quartet: Lydia's List
"Holdsworth is really one of our best trumpeters, with a firm, round tone and endless melodicism." Richard Williams 'Melody Maker'.
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