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In April 2009, my colleague David MacKenzie and I undertook a week-long jazz concert tour on Unitarian Churches across England. As organist for the Dublin congregation, since my election to the committee of the Unitarian Music Society in August of the previous year and aware of the difficulties of publicising concerts by an unknown name in the traditional jazz music circles, it was an idea that had been percolating for some months and once it wasn’t shot down in flames by enough people to stop it being reality, I began planning in earnest in November. There were problems in its planning. Due to David’s work commitments with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, a week was the maximum we could take to do it. This meant that there would be unavoidable Monday and Tuesday night concerts (not a good idea when trying to attract audiences) and quite intensive driving for the designated drivers. Also, the week chosen as the only possible week for us to do it was Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday. This undoubtedly led to problems from potential audience members who would like to have been there being away on holidays or home from University. Nonetheless, we received interest from eight congregations and so we pressed on ahead. So it was that we crammed into Andrew Csibi’s car on Saturday 3rd April to make the ferry journey to Holyhead – me sharing the back with a double bass, a laptop (tour hq) and a sat nav. A week later to the day, we arrived back to Dublin Ferryport exhausted but excited at the music performed, new friends made, opportunities for the future. I was anxious that this should be a method of fund-raising for the various churches as well as for us. The audience numbers were mixed (ranging from 6 to 160) and looking at the numbers now, I can see that the congregations who entered into the spirit of it found it paid for them. One way or the other, we had a blast. Our hosts at the various churches couldn’t have been nicer and more accommodating. The feedback was terrific and we sold some CDs which was great too. Bringing along Andrew Csibi on double bass worked wonders too, easing the driving load for David and adding the extra dimension to the musical sound that we cherish when we’re playing with him. The musical chemistry was certainly intensified over the week – we’ve never played as well as we did at some of the concerts on the tour and at our Dublin concert on our return. Undoubtedly, nerves were frayed by the end of a week of three people in a confined space but good humour was retained almost throughout the duration and we all made it home relatively unscathed by the experience. None of us had ever undertaken the sort of tour we did that week – it was a new experience for all of us. As we’ve already shown in Ireland, we’re quite versatile in the environments we can play well in and so it was here – school rooms, living rooms, churches big and small – with each stage bringing a different style of performance from us and forcing us to adapt to the room, something we enjoy doing anyway but which always keeps the performance fresh and keeps us on our toes. Many thanks to everyone who organised, came out to enjoy the music, put us up for the night or did anything in their own small way to support and promote the shows. We look forward to doing it again sometime soon. Be warned.
Josh Johnston
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