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| (© Ken Drew) |
I'd approached the
uni from a different direction and found myself lost. I asked a student as to
the whereabouts of King's Hall. He didn't know. I found out it was in the
building he'd just left. The future could be in his hands...
However, once inside, all that was forgotten as the Alice Grace Quartet delivered a masterclass of jazz singing/playing to a packed auditorium.
Devil May Care opened up with just voice and percussion for the first chorus before Paul and Pav joined the party. Abbie took a drum solo and the show was well and truly on the road.
There Was a Time, composed by tenor sax legend Paul Booth. This was a brooding melody by one of my, maybe the, favourite sax players. It was okay but don't give up the day job Paul.
Long Road, composed by Alice had a a nice swing to it with some interesting tempo/chord changes for Pav to cope with.
Blame it on my Youth - they don't get any better than this. It knocks Summertime into a cocked hat. If you want to be a jazz singer, forget about Cry me a River and study this one and you could do no worse than listening to Alice's version. Paul Grainger also soloed effectively.
I thought it couldn't possibly get any better than this and then, it suddenly did!
Guess Who I Saw Today is surely the greatest song/story in the long history of popular music. Eydie Gormé, Carmen McRae and Nancy Wilson nailed it and so did Alice. With only Pav for accompaniment the story unfolded. Every time I hear this song I wish that I was hearing it for the first time so strong is the punchline. Which brings me to the tiniest of criticism. I felt Alice should have put a little more emphasis on that punchline. But, who am I to criticise a musical Mona Lisa?
No More Blues, another original from Alice, Travelling Light, led us into another classic. Love You Didn't do Right by me from the movie White Christmas where Rosemary Clooney bemoans losing the love of Bing Crosby who was 25 years her senior but that's Hollywood.
The afternoon drew to a close with Alice scatting her way through A Night in Tunisia. Dizzy's tune originally included a few bars from Charlie Parker that became known as 'The Famous Alto Break'. Today's audience may remember it as 'The Famous Alice Break'.
Four great musicians at the top of their game. Lance
1 comment :
A superb lunchtime concert with consummate musicians, in an elegant auditorium and an astounding vocalist, what a wonderful way to spend an lunchtime . A huge thank you to Newcastle University for staging this . The only minor disappointment was it did not generate a huge interest from the Students , yes there were a number there but they were outnumbered by the likes of myself and local jazz fans, which is such a shame because they missed a great show.
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