Juliet Kelly (vocals), Nick Ramm (keyboards), Oli Hayhurst (double
bass)& Eddie Hick (drums)
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Ken Drew.)
Juliet Kelly made an overdue Newcastle appearance with
her Spellbound Stories show. Ten songs
inspired by novels (mainly twentieth century works) formed the basis of the
two-set performance. Kelly’s band comprised top-flight musicians familiar to
Tyneside audiences – Nick Ramm, Oli Hayhurst and Eddie Hick. The Black Swan
venue in the basement of Newcastle Arts Centre was sparsely populated, but as
Kelly was to discover, she was in the presence of a select, well-read audience!
Paolo Coelho, Toni Morrison,
Audrey Niffenegger, Arundati Roy, Alice Walker – prize-winning authors all,
copies of their works borrowed from local libraries or sitting on the
bookshelves of the Tyneside literati,
Kelly was preaching to the converted. Nick Ramm worked as Kelly’s accompanist,
scene-setter and improviser coaxing an array of sounds from his keyboards
(variously acoustic, electric, Hammond and Old School BBC Stereophonic
Workshop). The bass and drums partnership of Hayhurst and Hick guaranteed a
swinging foundation and from time to time they stepped up to solo with aplomb.
Kelly’s response to Toni
Morrison’s Beloved proved particularly
effective (recalling Adelaide Hall’s wordless vocals to the 1927 landmark
recording of Creole Love Call) in a
sustained lower register delivery. The song cycle complete, the literati
demanded Kelly returned to the stage. Emile Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (sans screeching) knocked spots off you know who.
Russell.
No comments :
Post a Comment