Giles Strong (guitar) & Roly Veitch (guitar)
(Review by Russell)
This was the second of two little publicised gigs at the Beaumont Hotel in Hexham. Local resident and fine jazz guitarist Giles Strong opted for an under-the-radar start to a new series of Monday evening jazz gigs, the series proper beginning next week (November 26).
Light rain began to fall as Strong played the first number of the evening in the company of friend and fellow guitarist Roly Veitch. The duo sat unobtrusively in a corner adjacent to the hotel's reception desk. The Days of Wine and Roses greeted guests - some checking in, some checking out - and a busy dining room comprising residents and locals enjoying a Monday evening meal.
Jazz guitar lends itself to an engagement like this; minimal space required, easy set-up, low volume levels and tunes such as Tangerine, a high octane affair when the situation demands, yet here in the Beaumont Hotel, a different, expertly tamed beast in the hands of Strong and Veitch.
The hotel's bar offered two locally-brewed beers - Allendale's Golden Plover and Mordue's Workie Ticket - so, why not sample both? With Roly Veitch on the gig Stella by Starlight was likely to be on the set list and, sure enough, it was. One of the great tunes, few listeners can tire of Victor Young's masterwork. Sammy Fain's That Old Feeling maintained the duo's impeccable song list and with the scheduled nine o'clock finish in sight an unfamiliar number (unfamiliar to your correspondent!) - Don't Blame Me (Jimmy McHugh/Dorothy Fields) just about wrapped things up in time to catch a train home to Newcastle.
Next week's opening concert (Nov 26) features Ruth Lambert who will be singing a selection from the Great American Songbook.
The Beaumont Hotel's inaugural series of jazz gigs (free admission) looks like this:
Mondays 7:00-9:00pm
Nov 26 Ruth Lambert Trio (Lambert, vocals; Giles Strong, guitar; Paul Susans, double bass)
Dec 3 Paul Edis, piano & Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Dec 10 Dean Stockdale Trio (Stockdale, piano; Giles Strong, guitar; Mick Shoulder, double bass)
Dec 17 Ruth Lambert Trio (Lambert, vocals; Giles Strong, guitar; Ian Paterson, double bass)
Russell
4 comments :
Charlie Parker and Miles did a nice version of Don't Blame Me and, vocally, Vic Damone did a job on it in the film "The Strip" which also had the Louis Armstrong All-Stars featured.
There's a great quote in the film by William Demarest to Mickey Rooney: "What good's happiness? it can't buy you money!"
Not many folk know this but Victor Young was staying B&B at the Black Bull, Blaydon. He was sitting out in the beer garden one balmy summer evening enjoying a pint and gazed at the beautiful view up river. It inspired him to compose his masterpiece 'Stella by Starlight'.
Ha! Ha! You need local knowledge to appreciate that one. I always thought it was written by the French composer Artois.
Monk did a great solo version of DBM, full of musical jokes and whole tone scales.
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