Kourosh Kanani (gtr); Jeremie Coullon (gtr); Eleazar
Spreafico (bs).
(Review by Peter
Ninnim).
Our autumn trip to London
this year was primarily to see Manon
at the Royal Ballet but no trip to London
Expecting nothing (free concert?) we arrived early and
listened in awe to the warm up and then after a short gap to the actual
performance.
The band bills themselves as Gypsy Jazz but they are so
much more. Genuine Gypsy jazz certainly but with lots of other influences.
The first set opened with the Louis Armstrong
tune Struttin’ With Some Barbeque
which set the tone of mind blowing virtuosity. They followed this with What is This Thing Called Love and then
a fast 3/4 piece the name of which escaped me. Other wonderful music followed; Caravan; Autumn Leaves, taken at speed;
and Django Reinhardt’s Micro,
with Les Paul influences I thought, which concluded the first set.
This allowed the diners in this upmarket Italian cafe to
get their breath back. The large venue was pretty full but because of the
nature of the place the crowd revolved but were very appreciative. What a great
way to perform jazz; 12.00 to 1.45 pm on a Saturday lunch time and no charge to
the audience!
The second shorter set kicked off with All the Things You Are and wound its way
through various Jazz standards and several Gypsy influenced items and finished
with a sparkling version of Charlie Parker’s Donna Lee.
The Quartet, reduced to three on the day, have a lead
guitarist on amplified acoustic guitar who is the best player that I have
ever seen on that instrument. I had never expected to see anyone produce more
guitar entertainment than Clive Carroll but Kourosh Kanani is amazing. His Turkish and Irish ancestry must be
an influence. The second guitarist is Jeremie Coullon and he also was impressive both on Lead and rhythm roles. Bass
player Eleazar Spreafico is
excellent; all fingers of both hands all over the neck of the instrument; and a
joy to watch a bass player who can play four in a bar at speed and not
struggle.
Normally I do not find bands without drums very
interesting but the trio swung from the first note and never stopped.
An unforgettable experience. It would be great to see
them in the North.
Peter N.
1 comment :
Kourosh Kanani is a rising star indeed. We interviewed him HERE
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