This week's Popup Louis featured our host Rico with pianist Will Barry. The duo worked together on a gig at Kansas Smitty's back in the autumn of last year and Rico thought it a good idea to invite Will to play a Friday evening set. The odds were a good number of Rico's many faithful fans hadn't heard of Will. Online comments were most complimentary about the Kansas Smitty's mainstay but, as is the way with 'I know what I like' types, it's unlikely they'll be logging on to Smitty's live streams.
Rico sang the first one of the evening, You Took Advantage of Me, following up with an excellent plungered Makin' Whoopee. Will laid down a samba rhythm on A Beautiful Friendship (comp. Kahn, lyrics Styne*) with Rico blowing flugel. Poor Butterfly kept Rico on flugel, Will excelling on an oh-so-relaxed tempo, the tune a dedication to Rico's mother celebrating her birthday, today. More flugel on Tadd Dameron's On a Misty Night, saying he was an admirer of Dameron's compositions. And why wouldn't he be?! More flugelhorn - it was one of those nights! - on Have You Met Miss Jones?
Will impressed once more on the ballad You Go to My Head, the perfect foil for Rico's leisurely flugelhorn. To finish, Rico returned to his 33 Armstrong horn to play Rodgers and Hart's Lover. On the evidence of this showing, Will Barry will have won himself many new fans.
* Kahn and Styne, that's Donald Kahn and Stanley Styne, sons of Gus K and Jule S.
Russell
Set list: You Took Advantage of Me; Makin' Whoopee; A Beautiful Friendship; Poor Butterfly; On a Misty Night; Have You Met Miss Jones?; You Go to My Head; Lover
No comments :
Post a Comment