Steve said:
We had our third consecutive near-sellout gig at Fleece Jazz last night, which tells you a lot about these musicians and the place they hold in the hearts of our audience. A very warm feeling pervades the room as the band, minus our vocalist, strike up with Irving Berlin’s ‘Let Yourself Go’. For the most part, each of the tunes tonight was written for or had a significant role on the silver screen although, as our compere and pianist Chris Ingham frequently points out, the quality of the song often surpasses the film and, in turn, remains more memorable. The band impress from the off with Mark Crooks weaving a playful melody on clarinet, which soars to a climax before passing the baton to Chris on piano to stretch out and develop the theme and from there to our bassist, Joe Pettitt, as he shows his prowess early on with a mellifluent solo, the first of several performed by him over the course of the evening. This stirring instrumental gives way to the entrance of vocalist Joanna Eden with ‘Close Enough for Love’. Throughout the evening, she impressed with her stage presence and held the audience in the palm of her hand as she sang: her phrasing and her presentation were an integral feature of each number.
Although familiar with the instrumental version as performed by jazz luminaries such as Miles, Coltrane and Bill Evans, I did not recognise ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ with its added lyrics until the title was revealed in the last line. This was another attraction of the concert in that new discoveries were made and revealed throughout the evening’s performance, courtesy of the engaging style of presentation of our host, Chris Ingham. The next number, ‘More Than You Know’, restored the majestic bridge to the song that was missed when Michelle Pfeiffer sang it in the film, and this was echoed in the sultry strains of Mark’s tenor sax.
‘Pure Imagination’ has become something of a jazz standard in recent times and here it was given a shuffling, uptempo treatment. ‘Hushabye Mountain’ has a story behind it: Chris revealed that Joanna had tutored the singer Sam Smith from an early age and that recently she had been invited to sing with Sam at the Royal Albert Hall. This was the number that they performed together and to recreate that moment, our drummer George Double joined Joanna to perform a vocal duet. Apparently, George had a cold, but it was barely noticeable, and the song was executed beautifully by the two vocalists. Irving Berlin’s ‘Snow’ is performed in a burlesque style, with Chris, Jo, and George donning winter scarves and hats to present the song as an entertaining skit. They do it convincingly and with sheer joy. The set wraps up with a stirring version of the Judy Garland song, ‘The Man That Got Away’ from ‘A Star Is Born’
The second set opened with the familiar tune (performed here as an instrumental) of ‘Blue Velvet’, a fitting tribute to the unique talent of film director, David Lynch, who died just over a week ago. The haunting song belies the disturbing themes in Lynch’s film, a masterpiece of American Gothic. The up tempo, samba rhythm of ‘Meglio Stasera’ (It Had Better Be Tonight) is performed perfectly by the whole band, with Jo’s faultless Italian enunciation backed by a tight rhythm section and Mark’s luminous clarinet playing. ‘He’s A Tramp’ is presented as a slow, bluesy ballad with finger-clicking a-plenty, performed here by Jo, Mark and Joe. The audience is visibly hanging on every note as indeed they were for the next song, ‘From Russia with Love’, with its stellar rendition and a rousing finale. ‘The Godfather Waltz’, an instrumental, provided a sobering atmosphere with its haunting, Italianate sound conveyed beautifully, yet again, by the poignant tone of the clarinet. Light relief comes from Bacharach’s ‘South American Getaway’ with its vocalese/scat “ba-da-dahs” performed magnificently by Chris, George and Jo, out-swingling The Swingle Singers! ‘My Heart Belongs to Daddy’ was memorable for Jo’s sassy vocals and George’s use of the drums – using his hands to slap the skins like tom-toms, before striking out with sticks in a frenzied solo that drew roars of approval from the audience. There was a break with the brand of ‘Jazz at the Movies’ as Jo performed an incredible piece of songwriting from the 13-year-old Kate Bush: ‘The Man with The Child in His Eyes’. Before we know it, we are into the last number, which featured another stunning drum solo from George as well as a mellifluous clarinet feature from Mark.
The encore was unannounced, but I slowly recognised it as Jo sang the chorus of ‘To Sir, with Love’ from the British film of the same name. The song was performed in the film by 18-year-old Lulu, who played the role of a pupil at an East End secondary school while Sidney Poitier played her teacher.
Our audience went home very happy – the whole experience was heart-warming, amusing in places and uplifting. Several people stopped at the desk to thank the musicians for a wonderful, entertaining evening.
Dave said:
If the word “joyous” was ever used to describe a gig, it belongs perfectly to this one. The musicianship was wonderful, the presentation superb, and the songs were just great. As well as great playing, great singing, and really good presentation, the band dealt with grace and humour while dealing with technical difficulties.
Our old mixer was dying, and this was the new mixer’s first outing. I had it set up for a singer quintet with a talk mic (no reverb) for Chris. But George needed a mic for singing, and Joanna needed to use the talk mic with her reverb. Chris sang and needed reverb on the talk mic. I messed up making the changes on the fly.
So Joanna and Chris shared her mic for a vocal trio with George. At one point, Chris stole a piano mic as a singer mic. I think I heard Murphy singing in the background.
I did a change to lighting to emphasize Joanna. With a beautifully sequinned white dress, she looked a bit like an overexcited mirror ball, but with a much nicer shape.
We have to wait three weeks for the next gig. It will be a celebration of the Blue Note label, led by Chris Coull on trumpet, with the welcome return of Andy Panayi on sax, Dan Sheppard on bass and Peter Cater on drums. It will be a delightful gig, so do join us.
Take care,
Dave
Jazz at the Movies SETLIST, FLEECE JAZZ 22/01/25
- Let Yourself Go (Irving Berlin)from the 1936 film ‘Follow the Fleet’
- Close Enough for Love (Johnny Mandel/Paul Williams) from the 1979 film ‘Agatha’
- On Green Dolphin Street (Bronislaw Kaper/Ned Washington) from the 1947 film of the same name
- More Than You Know (Youmans/Rose & Eliscu) published 1929 featured in the 1989 film ‘The Fabulous Baker Boys’
- Pure Imagination (Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley) from the 1971 film ‘Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory’
- Hushabye Mountain (Robert & Richard Sherman) from the 1968 film ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’
- Snow (Irving Berlin) from the 1954 film ‘White Christmas’
- The Man That Got Away (Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin) from the 1954 film ‘A Star Is Born’
* * * * * * *
- Blue Velvet (Bernie Wayne & Lee Morris) composed in 1950; recorded by Tony Bennet in 1951 and Bobby Vinton in 1963. The latter version was used in the David Lynch film of the same name.
- Meglio Stasera (Henry Mancini/Franco Migliacci) from the 1963 film, ‘The Pink Panther’.
- He’s A Tramp (Sonny Burke & Peggy Lee) from the 1955 film, ‘Lady and the Tramp’
- From Russia with Love (John Barry & Monty Norman) from the 1963 James Bond film of the same name.
- The Godfather Waltz (Nino Rota) from the 1972 film of the same name.
- South American Getaway (Burt Bacharach) from the 1969 film ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’.
- My Heart Belongs to Daddy (Cole Porter) from the 1938 film ‘Leave it To Me’ where it was performed by Mary Martin. Marilyn Monroe performs it in the 1960 film, ‘Let’s Make Love’.
- The Man with The Child in His Eyes (Kate Bush)
- Everybody Wants to Be a Cat (Robert & Richard Sherman) from the 1970 film ‘The Aristocats’
- Encore: To Sir, with Love (Don Black and Mark London) from the 1967 film of the same name.