Mark
Lewandowski (bass); Liam Noble (piano); Paul Clarvis (drums).
(Review by Lance).
Liam
Noble playing Fats Waller? Nah! Chalk and Cheese.
Then
I played the album and, afterwards, ate a chalk and cheese sandwich
followed by a portion of humble pie.
The
CD is much more palatable.
Three
musicians, closer to the cutting edge of jazz, have successfully brought Fats Waller’s
1930’s classics into the twenty first century without, I would suggest, alienating
purists or pathfinders. In his day, of course, Waller was indeed a pathfinder
himself.
This
isn’t a lip service tribute – how could it be? These guys were born long after
Fats died on that train! No it’s a case of bringing Fats’ music to a present
day audience and doing this without the mugging and sometimes hammy vocals that
distracted the listener from the wonderful piano playing on the originals.
Lewandowski’s
bass is sonorous – listen to his intro to I’ll
be Glad When You’re Dead which merges into Suzannah where Noble strays from Waller to Bach as perhaps Waller
also may have done.
Blue Because of You:
A lovely tune that seems to share the same middle eight as Jimmy Van Heusen’s Oh You Crazy Moon – opinions please.
Some fine brushwork by Clarvis on this one.
Noble’s
explorative takes on Fair and Square in
Love and Cinders reveal just how
sensitive a musician he is.
There’s
also interpretations of some of Waller’s Lollipops
– as Sir Thomas Beecham used to refer to the classical warhorses. In this case,
the ‘pops are; It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie cleverly fused, with I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a
Letter; Jitterbug Waltz; Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Honeysuckle Rose.
Lewandowski
sets his stall out with an impressive solo rendition of Have a Little Dream of me and gives us a Surprise Ending – no spoilers from me!
An absolutely delightful
album and one which can be heard live at The Globe, Newcastle, on Thursday May 11.
Available on Whirlwind
WR4703.
Lance.
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