Reviewed by Jan Elliot
You missed a great night of stringed instruments and perfect
moments if you weren't at the club to absorb the fine
performances of these consummate musicians. Actually feeling
sorry for club members not in attendance is pointless, so read
all about it and weep.
The bio promised “a lot of strings”‚ and Jon
pointed out there were 70 in total. This included a ukulele
played by Jon in a tribute piece dedicated to Maurice Flanagan,
with mandolin played by James. (Ukulele means ' Jumping Flea' in
Hawaiian). I thought I could have been listening to something
called The Jumping Flea Blues, during a piece with James playing
fretless bass. (http://jumpingflea.com/). The instrument
combinations these two came up with, were scintillating rare
treats.
Guests included Laura Tomlin singing an original song called
The Fisherman’s Lover, a vocally challenging melody, ably
performed. With its stunning chorus, this song will linger and
with the help of the beautiful guitar arrangement written by Jon,
it deserves to be recorded. As well as pieces written by Jon and
James, another guest Renze Hanham contributed with an original
song called Looking Back From Now‚ a reflection about
Fathers that was very moving, as was his interpretation of
Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah‚ which was simply awesome.
His voice could only be described as sweet as treacle‚ and
it would be great to hear him again at the club.
As our MC Denny observed, we were like a secret society‚
quietly revelling in collective awe, as delicious melodies ensued
and the night unfolded, listening to two pairs of earthly
timbered, maestro fingertips. James solo numbers were well
received, humourous and his witty, somewhat frivolous air, became
the mood of the evening as comments flew around preceding a piece
written for Jon‚s pet rat, Ratty‚ a dear friend,
sadly passed away from Jon feeding him scrambled eggs on too
often an occasion. (apparently that's a no no). Ratty's
piece is of course a ragtime number and brilliant.
Two standout pieces were Slough‚ played on 24 strings
and accompanied by James impersonating Louis Armstrong and as
befitting on a cold winters‚ night, James‚ piece Hoar
Frost... Excellent! There is an album to come folks and what a
night , month , year that will be upon its launch. I can’t
wait. Shame on Creative New Zealand for not helping to hasten the
event. The evening was a miniature of the forthcoming CD. Not to
be missed!
Lay Back and Think of England!