Alan Hood, Reporter
Former Royal Northern College of Music trumpet student Paul Newton, who is now the lead trumpeter of the Big Blue Big Band (Pop Idols), led an eight piece group performing pop, funk, and blues originals catering to a mostly younger audience of appreciative I.T.G. participants and Manchester locals. The atmosphere was lively and fun, and while Paul invited the crowd to dance to the faster numbers, no one did. They were there to listen! The set started late, about 12:20 a.m., getting underway after the inspiring performance by the Kenny Wheeler-John Taylor jazz duo.
Paul and the band, which consisted of players on synthesizer, piano, bass, drums, saxophone, trombone, and percussion (in addition to trumpet), introduced themselves with a short feature accompanied by ethereal, pedal-point midi sounds on a tune entitled Prologue to Remembrance. Paul initially displayed his sensitive approach to tone and shading, kicking his high-powered sound into gear as the rest of the band entered. This provided a direct segue into a heavy funk beat tune entitled 1500 Miles. The three-horn section was tight with some lines in the style of Earth, Wind and Fire. Paul led the horns with clean, powerful lead playing, switching to tasty improvisation lines in an ensuing solo. The tenor saxophonist, trombonist, synthesizer player, pianist, and bassist all provided very sound and characteristic solos.
The next original, aptly named Happy Days, was a slow groove dance number with a heavy insistent back beat. The drumming was rock solid and the percussionist contributed some excellent colors to this tune. Paul led this song on flugelhorn, employing a lot of pentatonic patterns in his solo lines. The tune wound down with some bluesy exchanges between the trumpet and tenor sax. 
Paul explored some nice side-slipping in and out of the static harmony underneath. For the whole evening, and on this selection in particular, the band had a great sense of balance of all the sound colors and textures inherent in this style of music.
The next selection was an extremely funky blues tune that Paul jokingly called “a bizarre scope of blues” called Blues for Bob. The bassist really laid down the groove on this one! The horns entered and were a little bit loose on the head leading to an aggressive multi-chorus trumpet solo that was very locked into the time feel and very much on the microphone! A tenor sax solo followed which had an attractive hard edge to the tone. He navigated the changes with ease, as did the pianist and synthesizer player. Before taking the melody out, the horns traded choruses as Paul showcased some impressive upper range playing during the conversations.
The group’s pianist wrote and provided vocals for the next selection titled Got the Bug Back. This was a heavy funk tune reminding me of Blood, Sweat and Tears (the vocals reminiscent of David Clayton-Thomas). This tune grooved and was very danceable. Paul and the band closed their set with a return to a sequenced midi background track (like the opening of the night). 
The feel was in the straight eight note ‘disco’ vein and was a vocal and trumpet feature for Paul. No title was mentioned for this song. Paul has a smooth vocal quality, perfect for this style. After a horn line there was a tremendous high note solo by Paul, a trombone solo, and then the horns took it out together again. A very enjoyable, relaxed conclusion to the late night sets at the conference!
