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| © Patti |
The first time I heard Alan Barnes he was blowing alto sax with Tommy Chase's hard bop quartet back in 1986. This lunchtime he was on clarinet in a tribute to Wally Fawkes who would have been 100-years-old this very day.
It would be difficult to conjure up two more contrasting extremes but jazz is a big river and Barnes is one of those rare fish who is never out of the water whatever the prevailing tide. Even the ringing of a member of the audience's mobile didn't faze him!
Backed by the outstanding Dean Stockdale Trio - stars in their own right -, the clarinettist captured to perfection the spirit of the man whose centennial we were celebrating. Although Barnes' tone is more DeFranco than that of Fawkes' early idol Sidney Bechet it didn't lesson the impact of his playing one iota.
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| © Patti |
The set comprised Fawkes' originals: Closing Time; Whatever Next?*; Trog's Blues* and The Sweeper. A couple of Bechet's: Moulin à Café (a.k.a. The Coffee Grinder) and Si Tu Vois Ma Mere as well as two standards: As Long as I Live and Isham Jones' Spain - not to be confused with the Chick Corea tune of the same name.
It was a great afternoon and I had a spring(ish) in my step as I emerged from the historic library into the glorious sunshine. After the music the sun wouldn't have dared to do anything but shine. Paradoxically, after six months of awful weather folks are now complaining about the heat - some people...
*Harry Keeble sat in on tenor for a couple of numbers impressing everyone. 'Boz'
1 comment :
Thanks for this!
I had a lovely afternoon and it was great to see you
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