Alice Grace (vocals); James
Harrison (keys); Russ Morgan (drums, well sort of)
(By Ann Alex/photo courtesy of Ron Hampton)
In these weird
times you could do a lot worse than go to Lance's Jazz Indoors or click directly on to the link to Jim Nesbitt's Music On Teesside. On my computer, at any rate, you can
get a clip of Alice Grace singing Honeysuckle Rose, and what a superb
performance! The introduction from James is full of fancy trills, then Alice
sets to work in her honeyed, well-dictioned voice, full of feeling, much
pointing to our pianist as he plays in the spaces ('Not Bad' she says), then
she gives a welcome to the latecomers, all without missing a beat.
After one chorus or so, we get wordless
improvisation on the tune, which I personally much prefer rather than scat. The
song is not just simply sung but interpreted with feeling. Alice is wearing a
strapless (brave woman!) all-in-one trousered outfit (is this a jump suit?) of
shining material, looking smart and tastefully saucy, which suits the song. If
I was a man I would be utterly charmed instead of just admiring.
I was amused by
Russ on drums, not playing on this number. At first he is bent double, doing
whatever drummers do to prepare the bass drum I assume, then he sits back. It's
strange to see an inactive drummer as normally drummers are so interesting to
watch, what with drums, cymbals, hand drums, sticks, mallets and multiple
timings.
You could also do
worse by having a listen to another clip on the same screen, that of Soznak
playing at the Monument in Newcastle. Jude Murphy is singing Take Another
Little Piece Of My Heart, although the sound is hampered by being outside.
I was interested in the vast difference between the singing of a rock-type of
song and a jazz song, both performed by skilled singers.
Have a listen.
Enjoy!
Ann Alex
No comments :
Post a Comment