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| © Patti |
A quite delightful afternoon of quiet and gently restrained solo piano jazz. The mood was of a late night supper club without the distraction of cutlery clanging or waiters calling for two ham and eggs over easy and a portion of fries. Instead it was more of a hip Amadeus jazzing up a European salon.
His back to the audience, the concert began with a reflective meandering exploration of Isn't it Romantic?. The answer was yes. After an extended build up, Sometimes I'm Happy emerged generating a nice easy swing before following up with a dreamy I Cover the Waterfront (Eddie Thompson used to introduce it as I water the front cover). Most people think of Glenn Miller (RIP) when Tuxedo Junction is played but wise owls know it was first recorded by co-composer Erskine Hawkins and his Orchestra. The rolling rhythm of Urquhart's left hand told me that he knew it too.
The pianist forwarded a list of 27 songs from which he would make his selection. Which ones would he choose? Number five was If I Loved You from Carousel. Not my favourite song or musical but Urquhart made a decent fist of it and the bravura middle eight was quite impressive. More to my liking was Jimmy Van Heusen's The Tender Trap which had a good bouncy groove to it.
Everyone inwardly groans when White Christmas is announced - you can't go into a pub or a supermarket without Bing dreaming of being snowed in with only a reindeer for company. It was fine the first 100 times but, like Thornton's Coffee Creams you can O.D. on it. However, this was the version that cracked the ice for me - the verse. I'd never realised that Irving Berlin had also composed a verse to his money-spinner. Fraser knew and his treatment of it before going into the well known theme gave the dead reindeer a brand new kiss of life. I could feel the tears forming as I thought of so many past friends who will never know another Christmas.
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| © Patti |
A couple of ringers: It Never Entered my Mind merged with Glad to be Unhappy, neither of which were listed, before Gershwin's Feeling Sentimental flirted with I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, eventually hooking up with 10cc's I'm Not in Love and Moonglow. The latter number is usually paired with The Theme From Picnic but the 10cc classic, surprisingly. was equally compatible.
All that was left of the hour was for an impressive mix of Nighty-Night and Silent Night before we left, feeling pleasantly satisfied, into the winter sun. These lunchtime gigs just go from strength to strength. Lance
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