I've been listening to jazz since I was in knee pants - or so my mama done told me. It's been a long long journey during which time I've been privileged to hear most of the legendary greats either live or on record.
However, this surfeit of riches did not come without a price. Whilst my love of the music remained constant, in recent years I've become, for want of a better word, blasé, complacent, call it what you will, I began to sense that the thrill had gone.
Until last night that is when I tuned in to Radio 3 to listen to a 'Prom' concert from the Royal Albert Hall down Knightsbridge Way by no less a singer than Samara Joy.
It only took four bars of You Stepped Out of a Dream for me to be back in the game. The old ennui just floated away and I was stepping into a dream.
I'd reviewed Samara's first couple of albums which were/are excellent but even they couldn't prepare me for this!
An amazing range merging, maybe surpassing coloratura virtuosity, Samara simply throws the textbook away leaving the listener breathless at her perfect pitch excursions.
Misty, the most beautiful version of Stardust ever, Loverman and Monk's Worry Later kept me intoxicated by what I was hearing. Loverman had a fine tenor solo by McCallister. The Monk number had a tongue-twisting vocal as well as exchanges 'twixt piano and drums.
More Monk with the strangely titled Ugly Beauty. An ornate, yet effective, chart with a cool alto solo by Mason who also did the arrangement.
The first set concluded with an up-tempo Day by Day. More alto by Mason who paved the way for Joy's scatting. Piano, bass and trombone grabbed a chunk of the action before the vocal soared above the swinging Concert Orchestra.
During the interval Clare Teal talked about Samara's influences citing the usual suspects such as Ella, Billie, Sarah and Nat.
The second set brought a roar from the crowd and a giggle from the star. Both audience and singer were having a ball - and so was I.
A hats off to Betty Carter song with Beware my Heart, Duke's I Got it Bad followed. Peace of Mind segued into Sun Ra's Dreams Come True before the intriguing Five Stages of Love - a wordless tone poem - then Teddy Wilson's It's the Little Things That Mean so Much with a massive tenor solo by McCallister before Billie Holiday's Left Alone and Jobim's No More Blues brought the show to a close. Of course they weren't going to leave it there. The hip audience (they knew when and where to clap) wanted more and they got it - Buzz me Blues by Louis Jordan.
It was, I think, maybe the best concert I've never actually been to although, maybe the BBC's sound team helped by dealing with the building's once notorious acoustics! Great singer, great band (they split the arranging duties each having a finger in at least one pie) and truly a 'happening'.
As I reluctantly shut down the pc, a line from a song no one ever sings these days, sprung to mind. It's from Again (Lionel Newman, Dorcas Cochrane).
We'll have this moment forever, but never, never again. Lance
1 comment :
A truly memorable concert. Thank you for recommending. Not to be missed! Now available on BBCi Player https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002ft7q
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