As Emma Fisk reminded us, it had been eighteen months. Eighteen months since the regular Hot Club du Nord line-up last took to the concert platform. On another sweltering day, when people could have been sunning themselves in a pub beer garden, it was gratifying to see close to one hundred socially distanced fans filling the Gala Theatre's main auditorium.
A set of ten or so numbers, all of them more than familiar to the quartet's many fans, ensured the resumption of Jazz at the Gala got off to a flying start. From Coquette to Undecided and the inevitable encore - on this occasion A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square - Emma and the boys held the audience spellbound. This afternoon's concert reaffirmed the view that all four musicians - violinist Emma, guitarists James Birkett and Dave Harris, and slap bass maestro Bruce Rollo - are dazzling soloists, yet it is their collective, collaborative approach to the repertoire that makes Hot Club du Nord a cut above. Highlights? How about each and every number?! If pushed, I'm Confessin', a scorching Undecided and the encore, Manning Sherwin's A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.
Emma's Hot Club-style outfit has long-since scaled the twin peaks of the local stage and the national stage. One challenge remains...international stardom. Don't bet against it! Russell
Set list: Coquette;
Limehouse Blues; I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me; I'm Confessin'; Swing
42; Exactly Like You; Viper's Dream; Si Tu
Savais; Undecided; A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.
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