Dave Newton (piano)
Blyth's Yamaha Music School's weekly lunchtime concert programme is going from strength to strength. This afternoon's concert featured the doyen of British jazz pianists, the great Dave Newton. Driving for more than six hours from his home in the south west of England, Newton arrived on Seaforth Street in good time to chat with well wishers and grab a coffee before the scheduled one o'clock start.
At the appointed hour Newton sat at the Yamaha piano, thinking for a moment before informing the audience he would play a selection of numbers without pause. We were invited to 'name that tune'. No sheet music, no iPad, no phone, nothing but Newton's memory bank see him through. And off he went...delicate and percussive by turn, superb left hand, feet on and off the pedals, audible rhythmic foot stomping, the great man was at work. In a set spanning some fifty minutes, Newton's selection of numbers included Secret Love, Honeysuckle Rose, The Way You Look Tonight and a fabulous reading of Night and Day. Sustained applause won an encore, an exquisite Skylark. Russell
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