MUSIC No, Mr Hazlewood; we expect you to conduct

THE NAME’S HAZLEWOOD…

…Charles Hazlewood; and this month he takes on Bond at the Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival. His weapon of choice? A baton…

Everyone has a favourite Bond actor, right? You probably have a favourite Bond theme, too; and while the two don’t necessarily go together, we’re hazarding a guess that if your textbook 007 is sexy, suave Sean Connery, Goldfinger might be your favourite tune, while if you prefer ironic, eyebrowarching Roger Moore, it’s probably a toss-up between Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me. Stylistically, the Bond tunes range far and wide, reflecting the tastes of their eras: from the flamboyant brassiness of the Bassey-Barry 1960s dream team, to the ’70s pop of Wings, to Duran Duran’s ’80s New-Romantic synth, and most recently, the Prozac-dreaminess of millennial-ofthe-moment Billy Eilish, singing Hans Zimmer’s theme to No Time to Die. And while Bond is rarely romantic, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service gave us one of the world’s greatest love songs in We Have All The Time in the World (spoiler alert: they didn’t). Many would argue that it’s the original Bond signature theme – which was either penned by Monty Norman or John Barry, depending on whose lawyer you’re talking too – that’s the most evocative of all, being packed with intrigue, adventure, evil, opulence and glamour. Nothing says “007 is just about to peel off a wetsuit to reveal a dinner jacket” better than that tense, mysterious vintage guitar sound, the stealthy opening ‘dum di-di dum dum’ bars culminating in an explosive fanfare. In some cases, it didn’t just set the scene for the high drama to come, but offered the best minute-and-a-half of the entire film. In honour of the release of No Time to Die – originally planned for next month, but now pushed back until the end of the year – this year’s Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival is putting on a spectacular concert of the entire catalogue of Bond theme tunes, conducted by Charles Hazlewood in collaboration with musician, arranger and festival organiser Denny Ilett. Sounds like a bit of a challenge, lads… Denny: I’ve always been fascinated by film soundtracks from the ’60s and ’70s, and the Bond franchise plays a big part in that. I was approached last year by producer Steve Fulcher to transcribe the themes of every Bond tune in the run-up to the new movie.

It seemed like a good idea to stage it at Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival, where we could feature many of our finest jazz, big band and classical instrumentalists and vocalists from our region as possible.

I’m at my happiest when rummaging among the orchestrations of great writers and arrangers. I love working out how they write and how they use the myriad colours that a full orchestra offers. As for the challenge; that was down to having enough time to do it… Charles: I love working with Denny on any project. He smashed it as co-guitarist, with Adrian Utley, on our Barry White Paraorchestra Love Unlimited Synth Orchestra project at Glastonbury last summer, and I hope to return the favour.

And then there’s Bond; hardwired into our national DNA, as British and as hard to resist as a pint of stout… “Bond is hardwired into our national DNA: as British and as hard to resist as a pint of stout”

But how does this fit into a jazz festival? Denny: Certainly, the early themes, written by John Barry, fit straight into the jazz/big band canon. As for the later stuff, which is more in the pop realm, there are always little nods to the Barry tradition, where you’ll find those patent Cold War chord sequences mixed with jazz harmony along with that everpresent and powerful big band brass sound. What can people expect on the night? Denny: We have an orchestra consisting of 10 brass, two woodwind, 12 strings, two keyboards, two guitars, three percussion and, of course, the glorious harp for those marvellous Hollywood glissandi. On top of that, we have no fewer than six guest vocalists to cover the plethora of vocal styles that 50-plus years of Bond music features. Everyone is local to Bristol, which is a fantastic advert for the quality of performers we have here; all except exception of lead trumpeter Simon Gardner, who has performed on several James Bond soundtracks, and the irrepressible Ian Shaw on vocals. Have you got a favourite theme tune? Denny: The John Barry years are my favourite, especially You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and, of course, the iconic instrumental main theme. Having said that, I grew to love and respect many of the later themes, such as Licence To Kill and The Living Daylights, while transcribing them. Charles : Goldfinger, because of the dark velvet of Barry’s music (which just sounds expensive, doesn’t it?). He had such genius at instantly creating a world – you hear literally one bar of Barry and you know exactly where you are. But most of all because of Shirley Bassey’s voice. Worldweary, yet with the power of an ocean wave, the heat of a furnace – and a swing, bend and wobble like no other. What’s your favourite Bond film – and Bond? Denny: My favourite movie is On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Live And Let Die. I wish George Lazenby had been given more of a shot at developing his Bond character in the former, and, the movie features that beautiful We Have All The Time In The World, sung so poignantly by Louis Armstrong, in the middle. Favourite Bond? Roger Moore, simply because I love the way he hams it up and gives 007 a sense of humour that none of the others do. Charles: From Russia with Love, because it stars Lotte Lenya as the starkest and most ascetic of all the Bond villains. In real life she was Kurt Weill’s missus, and starred in the original Threepenny Opera. What a woman; and what a pair of shoes… n James Bond in Concert is at O2 Academy on 27 March; tickets £22; www.bristoljazzandbluesfest.com “Shirley Bassey’s voice: world-weary, yet with the power of an ocean wave, the heat of a furnace, and a swing, bend and wobble like no other” SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED Ahead of James Bond in Concert, you’ll be able to enjoy an exclusive evening of classic Martinis and live music at The Milk Thistle, between 5.30-8pm Fri 27; tickets £38+ booking fee

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