Giles
Strong, Roly Veitch (guitars); Ian Paterson (bass).
(Review by Jerry/
Photos courtesy of Chris Whittle)
As
a nod to the Laurel and Hardy connection (we were in the Laurel café), I had
wanted to use the headline, “Another Fine Gig”, but for fear that it might be
misconstrued as anything other than a compliment, I decided against it. But it
was a fine gig, anyway – a mixture of (mostly) standards and a couple of
originals, beautifully performed.
The
standards were mostly arranged by Giles Strong, for which he received
well-deserved applause at the first name-check and the originals held their own
amidst familiar names like Kern and Porter as well as less familiar names (to
me) such as Dietz and Schwartz, whose gentle, soothing, Alone Together, closed the gig. I had been looking forward to the performance
as, although I have seen all three musicians before, I have never seen Ian
Paterson on double bass and had never seen the two guitarists other than with
vocalists or playing “gypsy-jazz”, Suffice to say, I was not disappointed!
First
up was I’ll Remember April (Gene de
Paul) which set the pattern for things to come, with a bass intro and then the
two guitarists alternating lead. Nature
Boy was written by eden ahbez who insisted on lower case letters for his
name as “only God and Infinity deserve capitals”! I’ve heard the song countless
times before, but never knew that! I mention that in passing – the knowledge
does not change the song or my appreciation of its gentle, Latin-ish rhythms.
Cole Porter’s Love for Sale had me
noticing the absence of sheet-music today – who needs it when you are this
comfortable with the material?
Giles
Strong’s Everything Was Beautiful,
was the first original – a lovely song, with or without lyrics. Ian Paterson’s
solo here caught the attention – closely following the main harmony, all played
towards the top end of the double-bass range. Very difficult, I imagine, and
very effective here. It was a couple of tunes later before he got any applause
for a solo, on Roly’s original, WT Blues
(what’s the WT for, Roly?) which is a new tune to me – a nice, funky(?)
foot-tapper. He deserved applause at various earlier points in the gig,
providing many of the intros and endings to numbers, as well as soloing
pleasantly. I suppose applause for every solo would be intrusive in a gig
described as “chamber-jazz” where the mood is quite intimate and the volume
level almost acoustic?
It
wasn’t all about the bass, though, the two guitarists were on top form whether
on blues or ballads with clean harmonies and gentle rhythms. On Jerome Kern’s Yesterdays, the bass went silent for a
spell and we were treated to a guitar duo exchange which sounded more classical
than either of the aforementioned genres. Great!
Unmentioned
so far were the gentle Johnny Green ballad, Body
and Soul and (another new name to me) George Fragos’ I Hear a Rhapsody which reminded me, obscurely, of the Beatles
track, And I Love Her. Not sure why!
The penultimate number was introduced as “a simple blues” – Billie’s Blues – on which Giles Strong
and Roly Veitch both got a nice groove going and the bass gave us intro, solo,
and final notes, again.
Promoter,
Mick Shoulder, had introduced the trio as “the smartest band we’ve had here”-
all three were suited and Roly even had a tie! Regardless of sartorial elegance
he is to be congratulated for bringing such excellent music to Bishop Auckland
on a regular basis. There may be a change of venue later this year when the
Town Hall undergoes refurbishment, but the gigs will hopefully continue
elsewhere. Watch this space…..
Jerry.
2 comments :
Apologies to the musicians, I seem to have missed a few numbers in my review - ALL OF ME being one (there may have been more).
Thanks Jerry. No you didn't miss any of the set list. WT stands for Whole Tone as the tune is based on a music scale of that name. The town hall is a really lovely venue and well worth a visit to hear the jazz concerts there. Ample cheap parking very close by too.
Roly
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