Gabi
Heller (vocals, percussion); Steve Glendinning (guitar)
This
could well be my gig of the month, or maybe of the year, time will tell. It was
partly exquisite singing, brilliant guitar, partly an interesting lecture with
no boring bits, and partly a piece of theatre. Three gigs for the price of one.
The
theatre came first with a slow melancholy Good Morning Heartache, sung
and acted feelingly, then Gabi went on to explain something of Billie
Holliday's life, (born to a teenage mother and growing up in unfavourable
circumstances, unhappy in love, early death caused by addictions), but what
music she gave us! I'm A Stranger Here Myself introduced us to Kurt Weill, refugee fleeing Germany who
ended up in New York. And Gabi pondered aloud about whether they ever met,
which they could have done, in the only mixed-race jazz club in NY - Cafe
Society.
Lots of stuff to think about, besides songs
such as Crazy He Calls Me; Here I Stay; Loverman (the social media song,
Gabi commented); Tell me More and More and Then Some. This last song
featured Gabi the percussionist, using a different item to keep rhythm in each
line of the song, a bell, shakers, tappers, and goodness knows what else! The
first half was rounded off with a medley called Hope, short songs about
refugees on boats and fantasy peaceful ship journeys. And all the while,
marvellous guitar accompaniment and solos from Steve, who just seems to get
better and better! Little did we know what he was going to come up with in
the second set!
We
resumed with Travellin' Light and the first scatting of the night,
including a skilled low scat during the guitar solo, clever stuff. Then came
Weill's tune written to lyrics from socialist playwright Bertolt Brecht's Show
me the Way to the Next Whisky Bar and the self-effacing lyrics of Don't
Explain. A long guitar introduction for the next song, and what an intro!
An echo feel on guitar and a tune straight from the plains of India, no less,
beautiful bent notes, strange scales, odd rhythms! Steve must give us more of
this, and soon. Then the ambivalent words of September Song, then Strange
Fruit, arguably Billie's best song, with percussion from some small tubular
chimes which Gabi struck with a mallet, very effective. And we ended with
Gabi's favourite love song, Speak Low.
I
could have listened to it all again from the beginning, and that's a good sign.
Ann Alex
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