Sage Gateshead was full to over-flowing for Lost In Music - One Night at the Disco. The 'Discovites', who'd arrived in busloads, had dressed for the occasion and there were some outrageous fashion statements heading to Sage One.
Sage Two was also rammed although the fashions were less outré - they may have been in the 1930s from where much of the music we heard evolved.
However, the music of Reinhardt and Grappelli is timeless. It didn't matter that we'd heard it all before whether by the original Quintette du Hot Club de France on record or by Emma Fisk's Hot Club du Nord in person (or on CD) its appeal never fails to excite.
It may be considered sacrilege but I enjoy listening to to HCdN more than the original group. I say this with no disrespect to Django and Stéphane who individually really were the greatest but the chugging rhythm guitars sometimes created the effect of a speedboat in the Sargasso Sea.
No such handicaps to overcome with this band. The one less guitar made for a lighter swing and, in the form of Birkett and Johnston (depping for Dave Harris), you got two Djangos for the price of one!
Emma, needless to say, is a true virtuoso getting a tone from her instrument that only the very best manage. On ballads she is Johnny Hodges whilst on the swingers maybe Benny Carter. Yes, the tone and the fluency would be equally relevant on alto sax.
At times I thought, 'we're not in Gateshead anymore, were in Pigalle or Montmartre or one of them other arrondissements', such was the evocative nature of the music. Lance
Coquette; Embraceable You; Bésame Mucho; Undecided; Someone to Watch Over me; Swing 42; Exactly Like You; Sweet Chorus; Stompin' at Decca; Honeysuckle Rose; Stardust; This Can't be Love; Minor Swing; I Can't Give You Anything But Love; Ain't Misbehavin'; A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square; Sweet Georgia Brown; Nuages
1 comment :
Many thanks for the review Lance! Sorry I didn't manage to catch you!x
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