Spats Langham's Hot Fingers with Emily Campbell @ Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club - July 1

Spats Langham (guitar, banjo, ukulele, vocals); Danny Blyth (guitar, mandolin, clarinet, bass clarinet, harmonica, vocals); Malcolm Sked (double bass, tuba); Emily Campbell (vocals)

The same as last year, Tom 'Spats' Langham is a big attraction here at St Augustine's Parish Centre. They turned out in good number keen to hear the guitarist/banjoist/singer/jazz historian and raconteur performing in the company of Danny Blyth, Malcolm Sked and Emily Campbell. Some of the numbers in the set list were heard last year (no one grumbled). Some of the tunes were new to Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. 

Messrs Langham, Blyth and Sked opened the show with Vo-Do-Do-De-o. Regulation stuff, you could say. That said, the instrumentation - banjo, bass clarinet and tuba - isn't an everyday occurrence at a jazz gig. It's the kind of 'project' that could secure Arts Council funding! Over the course of a couple of hours Langham's Hot Fingers would cover a lot of ground: Red Allen, Al Bowlly, Ella, Billie, Irving Berlin, rags and rags-to-riches, Noble Sissle, Harold Arlen, references to the stars of stage and screen, the dangerously modern Boulou Ferré, gigging around Europe, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, erudite presentation, yes, there's an Arts Council grant in there somewhere. Just don't tell 'em you play jazz...

Multi-instrumentalist Danny Blyth impressed on whichever instrument he picked up. When introduced by Langham, Malcolm Sked, make that the 'hugely popular' Malcolm Sked, won vociferous applause, it's a kind of running joke, all good fun!  And then there's the 'Cotswold Canary' (aka Emily Campbell) who sang a wide range of material - popular song, jazz classics, spirituals and more. Hot Fingers will be back, that's for sure. Next time (it could be as part of an Arts Council-funded tour), check them out. Russell

                   

Set list: Vo-Do-Do-De-o Blues; Delta Bound; Smooth Sailing; Midnight, the Stars and You; Cornbread, Peas and Molasses; I'm Gonna Lock My Heart and Throw Away the Key: Blue Skies; When I Get Low, I Get High; Raggin' the Scale; In a Persian Market; Little White Lies; You Can't Get to Heaven; Get Happy; Didn't It Rain?; His Eye is on the Sparrow; ?; Night Owl; The Third Man Theme (the Harry Lime Theme); ?; Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?; Liner Blues; Mysteriuse; I Hate Myself for Being So Mean to You; Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man; Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean.