Hot Club du Nord @ Sage Gateshead - June 10

Emma Fisk (violin); James Birkett, Dave Harris (guitars); Bruce Rollo (bass).

Meandering (as opposed to staggering) from Sage Gateshead I met up with JNE's Bream the Younger who had also been to the concert. "I'd have thought that you'd have seen Hot Club du Nord at least 500 times" remarked Bill, not unkindly. I admitted that I had seen them more than twice but, if something is that good then each time is like the first time and this applies not only to music. 

And this was that good!

However, because their repertoire is a familiar one I'm not going to tediously rehash chapter and verse but, instead, just offer a few generalisations.

(Emma & Dave © Russell)

Much as I loved the original Hot Club - Stephane and Django were nonpareil - the guitar-heavy, chugging, rhythm did, at times, tend to create the effect of two olympic swimmers competing in a sea of Mars Bars whereas with du Nord the flow is much looser and less rigid.

Fisk is on a par with any of the current Hot Club stylists whilst the two guitarists don't attempt to turn it into a cutting contest but comp and complement each other perfectly. Bruce Rollo proved that you don't have to be in a hillbilly band to play slap bass and he slotted in very effectively.

Charlie Shavers' Undecided is always a crowd pleaser and Emma reminded us that the original Hot Club version had a vocal by Beryl Davis. Beryl, who was the daughter of bass saxophonist and co-leader of the Oscar Rabin Band Harry Davis, went on to have a successful career in America and was, in my opinion, by far the best of the British wartime singers - sorry Vera.

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square featured Emma at her melodic best reminding me of the time I heard Mel Tormé singing it with George Shearing at the RFH back in the 1980s. I also recall a version by NYJO titled A Nightingale Swang in Berkeley Square as well as the American singer Francis Day who's rendition came out as An Englishman Spoke in Grosvenor Square (site of the US Embassy).

I digress! A very enjoyable affair by what one of my fellow scribes described as the Virtuosi 4 - not a bad description at all and one I fully endorse - Lance

This Can't be Love; Body and Soul; Si Tu Savais; Belleville; Blue Drag; Swing 42; Summertime/I Found a New Baby; Nuages; Stomping at Decca; Ultravox; Bésame Mucho; Undecided; Ain't Misbehavin'; Minor Swing; A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square; Sweet Georgia Brown; J'attendrai.