Jo Harrop (vocals); Paul Edis (piano); Andy Champion (bass); Russ Morgan (drums) + Matt Anderson (tenor sax).
(Review by Lance).
Day 2 of the Ushaw Jazz Festival began with one of our favourite singers, Jo Harrop, who presented a programme that could have been subtitled Jo Harrop Sings Paul Edis as, apart from pieces by Walter Donaldson, Frank Loesser, Billie Holiday, Richard Rodgers and Leonard Bernstein, as well as Brook Bowman's East of the Sun featuring a guest appearance by Matt Anderson, Jo's remaining numbers were all words and music by Edis.
Not that I'm complaining! They're fine contemporary tunes with lyrics that have meaning. Plus, Jo was in good voice and looked stunning in an ankle length gown and killer heels.
A fine start to the afternoon.
Nathan Lawson (guitar)
After Jo's Some Other Time, The field of operations moved from the Francis Thompson Room to the architecturally breath-taking St Cuthbert's Chapel. A grade 1 listed building it makes your average cathedral seem like the local parish church. It was within these sacred walls with its high ceiling and magnificent stained glass windows that Nathan Lawson made his Ushaw Festival debut. Nathan, who only recently left 6th form, gave an impressive performance that despite the muddied sound on some of the lower frequencies didn't detract from our appreciation of this delightful short set.
Despite his youth, Nathan engaged the crowd with unassuming patter and impressed them with his command of his instrument - a left handed semi-acoustic - and, with not an ipad in sight. Great things are expected of this young man.
Quiet Nights; Bye Bye Blues; Tenderly; I Got Rhythm; Alice in Wonderland and We'll Meet Again were all tastefully and skilfully played. We'll Meet Again? We hope so...
Lance.
1 comment :
Yes, it was a fine start to the day with Jo as fabulous as always (with a half decent backing band!). Nathan's set more than met expectations - our Gretsch-playing southpaw's rapport with the audience suggests he has an experienced tutor in his corner (Dr J Birkett). This St Cuthbert's Chapel performance was Nathan's debut as a solo recitalist although in 2018 he entertained a crowded Francis Thompson Room as one third of the standards' trio In Other Words.
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