Fingerpicking Delights V
8 November 2020
By Russell Dann
The fifth edition in this concert series was a cracking good concert with great artists delivering superb music in a well-balanced programme. It was compered with engaging geniality by Izzy Miller Bell with sound smoothed by Steve Stern. The audience obviously loved it and the Folk Club clearly gets in behind these concerts.
The covers of old favourites and standards heard were invariably given personal arrangements that freshened and enhanced them and the originals performed were of a uniformly high standard.
The opening set with Tony Hale, Kristina Godfrey, and Jen Vette featured Kristina demonstrating once again her affinity with Joni Mitchell’s music by giving a warm, empathetic version of “Both Sides Now”. She followed that by giving equally impressive renditions of the Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home” and the Eva Cassidy favourite “Autumn Leaves”. Jen Vette completed this commercial set with a very pleasant version of the Carpenters song “For All We Know”. Tony Hale accompanied the singers with great panache and expertise made all the more laudable given that he is still recovering from a serious health event suffered earlier this year.
Next up were Jon Hooker and Laura Tomlin, with Laura finely interpreting two old favourites “I Need Your Love” and Donovan’s “Colours” Jon’s first instrumental, “Flatlands” is the featured instrumental from his terrific album of the same name. This segued into the traditional love song “The Snows They Melt the Soonest” with a guitar arrangement quite different to Dick Gaughan’s. Their jointly composed “New September” is a warm-toned song which drew us in with the catchy hook ‘Hey old friend’. Laura is a confident singer with clear rich tones. The set concluded with a sweet song “MacKenzie’s Lullaby” which featured both English and Gaelic lyrics. All of these songs were accompanied impeccably and with great sensitivity by Jon.
You didn’t have to be a devotee of Latin American music to be impressed by the verve and vitality displayed by the trio “Clube Do Choro”, making their first appearance at the Folk Club. The group comprised Marianne Pringot on flute, husband Julien Pringot on seven-string guitar and Renata Rubini with vocals and percussion using an egg shaker and a triangle. They opened with “Galata De Ipanema,” which is the ever popular “Girl From lpanema,” and presented it with their own fresh arrangement. Next up was “Wave” which featured the slow sweet sounds of the flute combined with the hypnotic rhythms of the guitar and the egg shaker. This was followed up with “Chega De Saudade,” translated as “No more Blues,” which highlighted the pulsating tempo of the guitar and the rattle of the egg. The final number was a fascinating piece of baiao music called “Pontaio,” which is an example of a N.E. Brazilian dance music quite distinct from the bossa nova style of the previous numbers. It featured Renata playing the triangle as a vigorous percussion instrument whilst singing in an expertly matching rhythm. The audience delighted in this as few had seen the triangle played with such patterned dexterity before.
Susan Leigh Grant opened the second half with two delightful compositions of her own. The first, “Spiders Song,” was a toe-tapper played expertly on a dobro, tuned to an open chord and played in bottleneck style. She commented that it was an ode to her dog which explained the cheerfulness of the tune. “Sophie’s Song,” the next piece in the set, referred to her daughter and was a bouncy jig tune with a catchy melody again played adroitly, but this time on an acoustic guitar. Compere Izzy Miller Bell then joined Susan to sing a beautifully modulated version of a “A Simple Twist of Fate” from Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks album. The atmospheric twang of the dobro enhanced the dramatic effect of the song. The duo finished with a spirited rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Fulsome Prison Blues”. It was great.
The final set came from the husband and wife duo “Vintage Blue,” comprising guitarist Rob Payne and vocalist Jenny Payne, another act new to the Folk Club. They delivered a well-balanced set of songs beginning with a particularly endearing version of the Presley favourite “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Next was a poignant song about domestic violence called “Cherry Wine,” a mellow version of the Rolling Stones number “Paint it Black,” and a jazzy piece called “Bernie’s Tune” which got a good reaction from the audience. Following this was a laid-back interpretation of the old favourite “House of the Rising Sun” which featured a great guitar break by Rob along with the sultry sounds of Jenny’s superb vocals. The original song that followed “Please Bring Me Flowers” was a very moving piece about dementia. The lyrics captured the sadness of the situation beautifully and the hook line ‘Please bring me flowers’ followed by phrases such as ‘Even though I do not know your name’ brought tears to the eyes. Completing the set was the Beatles’ standard “Norwegian Wood” which gave Rob a chance to display his fingerpicking skills, complemented once again by Jenny’s fine vocals.
At the conclusion of the concert I glanced at my watch and was surprised to find it was after 10 pm. The concert was so good I’d lost track of the time. Kudos to the artists for delivering a superb concert and to Tony Hale for making it happen.