Sean Noonan’s Memorable Sticks @ The Jazz Cafe September 22

Sean Noonan (drums,vocals), Johnny Richards(keyboards), Mick Bardon (bass)

(Review by Steve H).

Brooklyn’s Sean Noonan took to the stage wearing his customary gold boxing gown. On reaching the drum kit, he disrobed revealing his prize-fighting outfit. Noonan is a one-off maverick who entertains and enthrals in equal measures. This particular trio seemed to feature every style of music imaginable: punk, rock, pop, vaudeville, cabaret, hard bop, bebop etc etc. A mesmerising cornucopia of styles and genres, yet amazingly enough it works brilliantly. It’s the equivalent of being on a jazz fairground waltzer as one is thrown around at a great and dizzying pace. 

Noonan is not only a great entertainer but also a phenomenal drummer and was wonderfully abetted by Johnny Richards on keys and Mick Bardon on electric bass. The pair manage to keep deadpan throughout despite the bandleader’s cavalier antics. Lyrically, Noonan may not be Joni Mitchell or for that matter Bob Dylan, but he still pens memorable stuff such as on the song    A Sunny Day  - take my hand and tap dance on thin ice and I would forgive anything for a man who composed  the song TAD The Aqua Diva – wonderful stuff.
Steve H.