Alice Grace (vcl); Peter Gilligan (pno) + Pete Tanton (tpt).
(Review by Lance).
The Jazz Café was crowded, as was Wembley Stadium earlier. Taking into account the difference in size and numbers between the two venues, on a decibel per person basis the Caff audience was relatively noisier than the Hull fans were when the 'Tigers' scored the winning goal!
Ironically, Alice's second number was Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise! This had followed a bouncy Weaver of Dreams that had Ms. Grace scatting with a hornlike fluency aided and abetted by Gilligan's piano support and his own prolific solo. Bossa Nova time and A Day in the Life of a Fool - one of the many titles given to the Black Orpheus tune. It was cool and temporarily brought the noise level down to that of the Sheffield Wednesday fans.
Norma Winstone's arrangement of Two Kites followed by a Kenny Wheeler tune led to trumpet player Pete Tanton coming off the bench or, to be more precise, a barstool, to join the duo for In a Sentimental Mood. Harmon-muted, he complemented the vocal and even managed to be heard!.
Musically, it had been a good first set but the boisterous crowd deterred me from hanging around for the second. Don't get me wrong, unlike in a concert hall, I don't expect the audience in a bar or a club to sit in sepulchral silence but I do assume they will show a degree of respect to the performers.
Lance.
2 comments :
This a continual nightmare at the excellent free gigs at the Caff. No one ever made money by selling drinks to a jazz audience so understandably they can't risk upsetting the other customers by asking them to respect the musicians. However last night the background noise was so loud I could hardly hear what seemed like an excellent gig. Funny thing is that those who make the biggest racket during the numbers also seem to applaud the most enthusiastically at their conclusion.
The audience far too small for some gigs, far too loud for others... Let's just be glad there was a good number of people there!
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