Isomatic UK Weblog

This evening we went to the George & Dragon in Thames Ditton to see the John Barnes quartet, comprising John Barnes (baritone sax, tenor sax, clarinet), Alan Dandy (keyboard), Mick Durell (bass guitar) and Don Cook (drums). The only guest was John Lang (trombone, pictured with John). Our favourite numbers were:
1) But Not For Me, composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin for their musical Girl Crazy (1930) and introduced in the original production by Ginger Rogers. The link is to a vocal by Julie London.
2) The wonderful song Lover Come Back To Me, written by Sigmund Romberg with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II in 1928 for the Broadway show The New Moon, where the song was introduced by Evelyn Herbert and Robert Halliday (as Robert Misson). The link is to the Brenda Lee hit of 1961 (nostalgia again).
3) Alan Dandy's first solo feature, a Gershwin medley based on How Long Has This Been Going On sung on this link by Peggy Lee.
4) Alan Dandy's second solo feature, his own boogie-woogie composition 'Down By The River'. No link I am sorry to say.

We persuaded John Barnes not to try and play the clarinet part of Jelly Roll Morton's Shreveport Stomp again. I asked if he was proving that the best clarinet players of today are still not as good as the greats of the past such as Omer Simeon. John replied that Julian Marc Stringle could probably play it; praise indeed.

Labels: Jazz