An hour or so before the John Pope Quintet's Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music Festival (NFOJAiM) headline concert, Adam Fairhall and Johnny Hunter popped up in the Cumberland Arms' lounge (aka back bar) to 'play Mary Lou Williams'.
As Johnny Hunter was upstairs sound checking with the JP5, pianist Adam Fairhall sat at the house upright to play some stride piano. Pronouncing himself content with the instrument*, Fairhall was happy to chew the fat: Mary Lou Williams, Sedalia (that's the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival), Jeff Barnhart (the art of improvising to silent movies), Joe Webb and more.
At six o'clock, Fairhall and Hunter would play to 'a select few', make that 'a lucky, select few'. In a near-one hour set, all but one of the compositions were written by our duo's subject, Mary Lou Williams. From Duke Ellington to Cecil Taylor, Williams composed, orchestrated and performed her original compositions and that of the ragtime and stride piano masters, many of whom she knew personally.
Elements of improvisation (after all, this evening's concert was a NFOJAiM event!) and, in no small measure, reverential affection permeated the performance. From Roll 'Em (the train was a-comin' down the line) to Night Life to Gemini (from Williams' Zodiac Suite), Fairhall and Hunter were clearly enjoying themselves, their enthusiasm infectious.
Fairhall's command of his instrument was there for all to see and hear. Similarly, Hunter utilised nothing more than a snare drum to great effect (recalling, way back when, Max Roach's Newcastle International Jazz Festival masterclass). Nicole, Luckey Roberts' Pork and Beans (vying for the highlight of the set) and the rag Fandangle featuring
* Every venue, large or small, could/should have an upright piano - Steinway or battered. Russell
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