Rico's Pop up Louis with Simon Picton - Mar. 19

Rico Tomasso (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals); Simon Picton (guitar, banjo)

Sweet and Lovely for starters, Rico trumpet, Simon Picton accompanying our host on banjo. Rico said how much he enjoyed his trip to Aberdeen to record an online festival gig with Ali Affleck and Brian Kellock (available a week on Sunday, ten quid plus booking fee). 

More banjo - what's going on?! - on Blue Drag, Rico taking a vocal. Our man claims Irish heritage...any excuse to sup a Guinness a couple of days after St Patrick's Day (see photo)! 

Georgia on My Mind with Picton double-tracking on guitar, Rico hitting the high notes. The established format of the Popup Louis live stream is for Rico to play a tune, talk a little, engaging with his audience, flitting from one thought to another, this evening remembering Laurie Chescoe, who has just died, and the great Len Skeat. 

Rico sang You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me for no other reason than he liked the tune (the best possible reason!) Rodgers and Hart's It's Easy to Remember (And So Hard to Forgot) prompted Rico to switch to flugelhorn, a really nice tune. Reverting to trumpet, Rico played Edgar Sampson's Blue Lou, Picton rhythmic support and a tasty solo to boot. Rico's vocal on Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You promised to be a highlight and, sure enough, it was, our man using his plunger mute to good effect. To close, All of Me. A good session.  

Next week marks the first anniversary of Rico's weekly Popup Louis sessions. That's some achievement with no more than a handful of absences during the year due to that rare bird, Rico playing a real gig! To celebrate the milestone, it's a Hot Five session with some of the best in the business including Michael McQuaid, reeds, and Andrew Oliver, piano.      

Russell

Set list: Sweet and Lovely; Blue Drag; Georgia on My Mind; You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me; It's Easy to Remember (And So Hard to Forget); Blue Lou; Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You; All of Me.