The Flat Five
was started by a group of guys that ran the Black Spot.....Jim Chivers,
Gary Keenan, John LeMarquand, Dennis Bevington, Claire Lawrence and
others, who later
established a short-lived jazz place, the "Java
Jazz" at a space at Locarno Beach at Tolmie and Marine. They
then opened the Flat 5 at 3623 West Broadway, which later became the
Blue Horn. (Click
here to see photos of the
Black Spot, courtesy of Wilmer
Fawcett)
The Java Jazz was
short
lived as the lease ran out, so the club on Broadway was established.
Gavin Walker named the club and suggested it be called "The Flatted
Fifth"
(after the most common bebop device). The board consisting of the
above, plus some others,
liked the name, but felt it was too much of a tongue twister and
decided
to
simply call it "The Flat Five"...
A couple of the directors, Adrian Tanner being on of
them, were attending UBC and belonged to the UBC Jazz Society. The Jazz
Society brought in the Harold Land Quartet, who played outdoors
in front of one of the main campus buildings. The group was Harold Land, tenor sax; Freddie Redd,
piano, Monk Montgomery, bass and Philly Joe Jones, drums.
They also appeared for a week at the Blue Horn.,
which was the new name of the club when it re-opened under the
directorship of Graham Humphries. They next brought in a group with
Walter
Benton, tenor sax; John Huston, piano; Bob Maize, bass and Philly Joe Jones, drums.
After Harold Land, the next big
act to play
the Blue Horn was Charles Mingus' Quartet with Lonnie Hillyer, trumpet;
Charles
McPherson, alto sax and Danny Richmond, drums.
That set the
stage for the appearances of
John Handy's two groups:
Handy, alto sax; Freddie Redd, piano; Michael White, violin; Don
Thompson, bass and Terry Clarke, drums.
The second
time Handy appeared,
guitarist, Jerry Hahn, had replaced Freddie Redd.
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The Trio: Don French-marimba-xylophone
Andreas Nauman- bass, Gregg Simpson-drums, 1964-1965
Andreas Naumann was replaced by Richard Anstey in 1965.
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