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| © Chris Whittle |
BSH readers will know that, by and large, they know more about jazz than me so the following heretical utterance will not come as a surprise. I’d never heard of Tom Harrell! That is until I heard the Zoë Gilby quartet playing live not long after they recorded their Harrell based Aurora album. Even then I’d never heard him play so I was all ears when Zoë commented that his melodies “were just so…….melodic” when she was introducing Shadowed in Solitude (Harrell’s Moon Alley) at Crook on Friday. So, first thing on Saturday, I sampled some of Harrell’s playing on YouTube, starting with Sail Away (renamed A Momentary Place of Peace on the Aurora album), and I can hear what she meant! So, thanks Zoë and Andy, I shall listen to more of the same: another shaft of light penetrates my general ignorance (belatedly, but better so than never)!
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| © Chris Whittle |
Shadowed in
Solitude opened with bowed bass and sustained high guitar notes
creating an intriguing, atmospheric, almost Celtic sound. A
Momentary Place of Peace was aptly calming after the frenetic,
paranoia of the original, Is It Me? and featured some
spellbinding guitar work from Mark Williams. A third track from Aurora featured
in the set-list: Forget the Past – with a joyful carpe
diem lyric. Zoë’s “vocalese” lyrics were spot-on on all three numbers.
I knew a little more
about the evening’s other Tom – Tom Waits – whose Way Down in the Hole
opened the second set as a voice and bass number. Waits is deep and gravelly –
I thought Zoë was aiming for some sort of vocal depth-charge. It was brilliant!
The evening had opened
with a lively rendition of Porter’s I Love You followed by an original
on the love theme – In it Together. Then a “Nessun Dorma moment” for us
(nearest to the drums) with Caravan! Being behind John Bradford was
fascinating as we could see what was happening with both feet and hands. I was
interested in technique and the choice of sticks/mallets/brushes: one of our
guests just said it was “sexy drumming”. Make what you will of that!
The closing number of the
first set, Leiber and Stoller’s Some Cat’s Know (á la Peggy Lee) would
have set the sprinklers off if the hall had been fitted with them! It featured
bluesy bass and guitar riffs and extraordinarily feline vocals and mere wails
in the diminuendo. Waow!
Before the closing
number, there was the 1936 standard, When Lights Are Low followed by two
more originals from the 12 Stories album – Red-Haired Girl from the
North-East of Nowhere – a beautiful piece of storytelling in song – and The
Midnight Bell – an evocative song about a story.
Which leaves me with two
numbers – each outstanding – to comment on: Secret Love and Red City.
I first heard the former when it was a hit for Kathy Kirby – all blonde and
lip-gloss – and then subsequently at many jazz gigs where the presentation was
very different, but tonight’s “ying and yang” dual tribute by Zoë took
different to another level! First we had Doris Day – clear, soft, precise and
almost prim then enter Carmen McRae strident, bluesy and blowsy. Loved it! Red
City I have commented on before: it really is a show-stopper, building to
an almost trance-like soundscape where you feel you can shut your eyes and lose
yourself (in a good way, of course).
And, finally, a word
about the venue. Zoë Gilby and Andy Champion and almost every jazz musician I
have ever spoken to strive to bring music to a wider audience (including me!):
St Cuthbert’s, Crook has been doing that for 15 years now and all the
volunteers who have made this such a success deserve unstinting praise! Thank
you (and the band, of course) for another memorable evening! Jerry
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