Zoe Gilby (vcl); Mark Williams (gtr); Andy Champion (bs); Richard Brown (dms).
(Review by Lance)
Zoe was "On song" tonight. Everything seemed to gel from the opening Love For Sale to the final Caravan via more Duke with Don't Get Around Much Anymore, more Cole with What is This Thing Called Love?, Jobim's The Waters of March, Leiber and Stoller's Some Cats Know and the inevitable Secret Love as done by Doris and Carmen.
All performed brilliantly - Zoe has a way with a lyric that seems to give it an extra dimension. An unusual inflection or holding the note for half a beat longer than expected - all the hallmarks of a great jazz singer. With great support and solos from Andy, Mark and Richard - although the latter had to wait for the last number for his moment in the spotlight - this was well worth braving the storms for.
.Then, of course, there were the originals which all reveal the fact that one day Gilby and Champion may be up there alongside Rodgers and Hart, George and Ira, Abbott and Costello...
Is It Me?, In It Together, On The Edge and Midnight Bell - all really good compositions worthy of wider exposure which no doubt they will get when Zoe hits the Festival trail this summer. That trail includes Manchester, Keswick, Fishguard (Fishguard?!) and several others across the length and the breadth of the land.
Oh yes, the song Midnight Bell.
Great tune, great lyric but I just wish that Zoe wouldn't be so dismissive of the inspiration for the song.
Midnight Bell was part of a trilogy written in 1935 by Patrick Hamilton under the title Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky. It's one of the most compelling books of the era and compares favourably with anything by Graham Greene, with whom comparisons are often drawn. The stories were successfully televised a few years back.
However, rant over, this was another good gig at Hoochie by four of the very best musicians around.
Next week it's Pete Gilligan's monthly jam session.
Lance.
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