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| (© Jeff Pritchard) |
With the exception of the opening Ornette Coleman blues Turnaround and the second tune Sonny Rollins’ Pent-Up House plus Oleo the remaining numbers evoked the spirit of the late tenor sax genius Stan Getz and on certain tunes like Desifinado Mike’s sound was heavily influenced by Getz’s version.
Before the band played the wonderful ballad Moonlight in Vermont Paul Hartley drew the audience’s attention to the record made by Getz with guitarist Johnny Smith which created a lot of interest world wide. Mike’s playing reminded me that I was lucky to have seen Getz during my first visit to New York shortly after his stay in Europe in 1962. That was the first time I had been to the Village Vanguard and Getz was working with Jimmy Raney guitar, Tommy Williams bass and Al Harewood drums. I’ve been a big fan every since.
Another Jobim number which I thought Mike did very well was O Grande Amor. This also brought back memories of Getz doing this tune in Central Park in 1974 with Richie Beirach piano, Dave Holland bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Apart from Getz you can tell that Mike Hope is a big fan of Sonny Rollins and two of his compositions Oleo and Pent-Up House were given a thorough work out by Mike. The highly skilled rhythm team of Ken Marley bass and Dave Walsh on drums worked well together and Paul Hartley did some good things on a second semi-acoustic guitar which he used for the Jobim numbers. To sum up, I thought this was an excellent night of modern jazz and I hope Mike makes a return visit before too long.
The next Jazz night at the Railway is on Sunday April 14 with the Robin Sunflower and Adrian Ingram band. Mike Farmer
Tunaround; Pent-Up House; Moonlight in Vermont; Desifinado; Oleo; On Green Dolphin Street; There Will Never be Another You; O Grande Amor; I'll Remember April; I Want to be Happy.
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