Personnel: Geoff Cole [tb], Tony Pyke [cl/asx], Hugh Crozier [pn], Graham Wiseman [sbs], Dipper Duddy [dm]

Songs: Sheik of Araby, Beautiful Dreamer, If Dreams Come True, It’s Time You Learnt, Until the Real Thing Comes Along, Ice Cream, I Can Make Believe, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, Love Walked In, Did You Mean It, Some Sunny Day, Faraway Blues, Breezin’ Along with the Breeze, When Lights Are Low, San Jacinto Stomp, Old Spinning Wheel

Jazzreview.com - U.S.A.

Trombonist Geoff Cole will be remembered for his years with the great Ken Colyer band. Cole's own band has since become a favorite in Britain and the trombonist has his share of fans on this side of the ocean. Another Colyer alumnus, reedman Tony Pyke, is always a part of Geoff's current bands.
In the past, Cole's CDs for Jazz Crusade have been tributes to legends including Morton and Waller. This session is a collection of Geoff Cole's favorite tunes plus a couple of his own compositions. Hugh Crozier appears on his first recording with Cole's band and is an able replacement for the retired Pat Hawes. The leader¹s gutsy slide is unmistakable on every track. Geoff is a powerful player and in combination with Tony Pyke's versatility, a trumpet player is not missed. Crozier's fine hands fill the tiniest gaps and the rhythm men complete a very good session. I found a few favorites of my own among the tunes, including Until The Real Thing Comes Along, Some Sunny Day, If Dreams Come True and the exciting version of When Lights Are Low. This is an awesome little band.
- Richard Bourcier

AllMusicGuide.com - World Wide Web

Geoff Cole has been on the British jazz scene since the '50s. His background includes a ten-year stint with the noted Ken Colyer Jazzmen before forming his Red Hot Five. This is their fourth recording for Big Bill Bissonnette's enterprising Jazz Crusade label. The previous three honored revered jazzmen Fats Waller, Kid Ory, and Jelly Roll Morton. This time out, Cole is paying tribute to none other than his own style of playing, which falls somewhat short of the label "red hot" in the title of his band. This is not to say that the playing is tranquil - there's plenty of bounce, lilt, and syncopation. Yet it is not that rambunctious, devil-may-care, all-out approach that one generally associates with the term. The music swings, but without much to do and unnecessary instrumental caterwauling. Joining Cole on the front line is reedman Tony Pyke. His clarinet has a light, fancy-free way about it which contrasts nicely with the bumptious Geoff Cole trombone. Pyke switches to alto sax for such cuts as "Did You Mean It." Most British alto players seem to have inherited in varying degrees that sweet, swinging sound of that English alto player of yore, the inestimable Freddie Gardner. The trombone/clarinet contrast is especially distinguished on such lilting presentations as Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer," which is given a thorough working-over by the group. The understated piano of Hugh Crozier joins Cole and Pyke in making this a unique track. Crozier put his Fats Waller-like vocalizing on display on "Until the Real Thing Comes Along." Cole adds mute on some tunes, including "I Can Make Believe," engaging in some elegant wah-wahing, which adds to the highly listenable 72 minutes of jazz music played by masters of the trade.
- Dave Nathan

Just Jazz Magazine - England

It was a pleasure to be asked to review this recording. I am not at all biased when I say that this is a very enjoyable musical interlude. It is something different from the usual content that turns up at our offices for review. When Geoff Cole first put this band together, I was at first a bit apprehensive about whether it would be accepted by some of the jazz fans and clubs on our circuit, but thnakfully the band appear to be winning over the dissenters.
It is not an easy task to work without a trumpet/cornet lead, but trombonist Geoff Cole and clarinetist/alto saxophonist Tony Pyke take it in turn to play the lead and share share their counterpoint duties. The effect is that after a very short while the listener forgets that there is not a trumpeter. To do this effectively is difficult, which only goes to prove the abilities of these two front men.
There have been some changes to the rhythm section since their last recording; Graham Wiseman is on string bass, the pianist is Hugh Crozier, and our "old" friend from Vintage Jazz, Dipper Duddy is on drums. They may be a new team, but they continue in the same vein as their predecessors. This music may not go down to well with the mouldy fig brigade, but that is their problem; this is good music for listening and enjoying with nopretences to be anything else. Their fans are proving that.
- Peter Lay

King's Jazz Review - U.K.

I have not heard this Hot Five in live play, but I am aware of the skills of each of the jazz artists whilst having played in other groups. I don't know when the three recent newcomers, pianist Hugh Crozier, drummer Dipper Duddy, and string bassist Graham Wiseman joined Geoff's Red Hot Five, which naturally has created a different sound from the four previous Cole, Jazz Crusade albums.
The sixteen tunes have been chosen from the Bissonnette/Cole songbook, which the Hot Five has blended and tailored, to fit in with skills and capabilities of the group, that is, it is embarking upon a forward looking venture, from what appears to have been a new starting base. The title tune, and, I Can Make Believe are compositions by the leader, and all of the others have a Hot Five special tinge to them. A masterful trumpeter, in keeping to the melody line was, bandleader Bill Brunskill, which must have been a delight to his improvising sidemen. What must be difficult to achieve, we have as highlighted on Beautiful Dreamer, trombonist Geoff Cole accomplishing here the same technique with unbelievable great style. This track, and on the Faraway Blues one, we hear the distinctive clarinet sound of Tony Pyke, unique to him but is not consistent on the other Red Hot Five tunes. Perhaps one day his clarinet effect may become recognisable on his alto saxophone playing - worthy to adopt.
There are still many people around today who have heard of the once arranger with the Ray Noble orchestra, trombonist Glen Miller, who in losing his trumpeter created a new swing-band sound. The point that I am making here is, that this Geoff Cole Red Hot Five appears to be led intermittently by well balanced two front-liners, who are clearly enjoying themselves on the album, with Geoff Cole seen today, as one of the finest Traditional jazz trombonist not only in the UK, but worldwide. Geoff sings on Mean It? and Hugh sings on Real Thing. The piano comes over well on Ice Cream with good clarinet blending. Sixteen wonderfully played choice songs.
- Ian King

Boxell's Jazz Website

JCCD-3070: Geoff Cole - It's Time You Learnt
Geoff Cole with his Hot Five stride on the stand and win my admiration yet again! After putting out three 'theme' CDs dedicated to classic jazzmen they are let loose with tunes of their own selection (and with, It's Time You Learnt, and I Can Make Believe, tunes of Geoff's own composition). Although at odd times I wish that the band were Geoff's Hot Seven with Alan Elsdon on trumpet joining trombonist Geoff and reedsman Tony Pyke, most of the time the two man frontline is a delight with them frequently swapping the lead. I want to say more, but don't know what to add. Read my earlier reviews and you will know just how highly I hold Geoff, Tony, and the rest of the band. On this CD they are at their best, the tunes are new, rare or popular, but even the standards get a fresh dusting over and come up all sparkly new. Oh just buy it, you will enjoy it so much that even the nagging you get from your other half for buying yet another jazz CD won't worry you!
- Geoff Boxell

JazzGazette.com - Internet Magazine

Whether he plays on tribute sessions to Muggsy Spanier (GHB BCD-116, BCD-200 and BCD-316) or to Bob Crosby's Bobcats (GHB BCD-258) with the Brian White-Alan Gresty Ragtimers or leads his own groups on Jazz Crusade in tributes to Kid Ory (JCCD-3013), Jelly Roll Morton (JCCD-3025) or Fats Waller (JCCD-3047), Geoff Cole (born in 1934) stands for traditional jazz of the highest quality. Bill Bissonnette, the producer of Jazz Crusade and a fine trombonist himself, calls him his "the absolute best jazz trombone player on the world wide traditional jazz scene today". New Orleans style lovers will of course remember him best as the trombone player with the Ken Colyer Band from 1961 to 1971. Sharing the frontline with Ken and Geoff for 6 years was the reed player on this session, Tony Pyke. So we can presume these guys know each other and they do. Encouraged by the producer Tony features his warm alto sax playing more than on previous records. This mutual association with the die-hard New Orleans addict Ken was, might lead you to the expectation that we have here a CD in the New Orleans revival style.
Although this particular style is present in some numbers in the purest form, this little group veers mostly to the sound of the small black bands of the late twenties and thirties. While the repertory of the previous recordings for Jazz Crusade was dictated more or less by the tribute idea, the choice of numbers on the present disc was much more personal. This time Big Bill asked Geoff to make a choice out of his own favourite numbers and added some requests from himself as well. The result is what I would call a visit to the Great American Songbook. Irving Berlin is present with two songs ("I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" and "Some Sunny Day"), there's Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer", there's George and Ira Gershwin with "Love Walked In", there's Edgar Sampson and Benny Goodman with "If Dreams Come True" , there's Benny Carter with "When Lights Are Low" and so on. All this excellent song material gets first class swinging treatment and the result is a series of classical jazz gems. The two horns are switching the lead in the many ensembles, solo in great style and are supported by a driving rhythm section. Hugh Crozier (whom I remember seeing in Belgium, many years ago, as a member of the Bill Brunskill band) is a fine successor to the former pianist of the group, Pat Hawes.
A few New Orleans favourites are thrown in for good measure like "Ice Cream", originally a rather silly popular song, turned into a New Orleans classic by the sheer power of one recorded performance, the classic American Music version with Big Jim and George Lewis. Interesting is that the rendition on this CD is not what we usually get today with this song, everybody soloing introduced by a vocal, but a purely instrumental version based on the famous American Music
recording with great ensemble playing and a salute to Big Jim with a quote of his famous shouts on this number. Another tune from these historical 1944 recordings on this CD is "San Jacinto Stomp" (aka "I Can't Escape From You"), while "Faraway Blues" was recorded by George Lewis' Eclypse Alley Five in 1946 and later became a favourite of Kid Sheik in his Preservation Hall days. Like I said before, this versatile group play these numbers in pure New Orleans revival style.
Playing time is 72 minutes and sound quality is excellent. Warmly recommended to all collectors of traditional jazz!
- Marcel Joly

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