James Harrison (piano); Paul Skerritt
(vocals)
What to do on a wet Wednesday
afternoon? Watch the telly? Go to the pub? How about an entertaining couple of
hours listening to two of our finest entertainers? They play every kind of gig
- jazz club (Huddersfield this evening), festival, function engagement,
corporate booking - and the one constant is supreme professionalism, that's
James Harrison and Paul Skerritt.
Energy, enthusiasm, they can get you
so far but, most of all, the key ingredient is talent and Messrs Harrison and
Skerritt have got it in abundance. For all the fun and frivolity - the opening
couple of numbers were about connecting with the Mezzanine audience - there is
an underlying musiciality when the duo get get down to it, no more so than
Skerritt's beautiful reading of Gregory Porter's Take Me to the
Alley.
L-O-V-E à la Nat Cole with
the first verse sung in Italian, Pennies from Heaven, Meghan
Trainor's All About that Bass, familiar material but none the worse
for it. The duo called for requests - Dan B suggested It Had to be You,
Skerritt liked the idea saying it was the song to his first dance at his
wedding reception. The Gentleman is a Tramp (Skerritt decided
the Lady deserved a break!) took us up to the interval.
Newcastle Arts Centre's recently
opened Mezzanine floor appeared to be doing as much business on teas and
coffees as alcohol beverages. Who wants to drink alcohol on a midweek
afternoon? Don't answer that!
Strike Up the Band refocused the attention, My
Funny Valentine presented Skerritt with more heavyweight material to
work on but it wasn't long before the man himself called Sway. Our
vocalist's partner in crime James Harrison is one impressive piano player.
Stupendous playing, the left hand working overtime, tune after quote-laden
tune, the Teessider is up there with the best of them. Earlier Skerritt sang
about a Paper Moon and to close this wet Wednesday afternoon
engagement the Harrison-Skerritt duo wanted to play among the stars, altogether
now...Fly Me to the Moon.
Russell
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