AN ENTHUSIASTIC AUDIENCE WELCOMES JACK HUTTON AND FRIENDS
“Velvet on the soul” were the words that occurred to me, at the Gravenhurst Opera House on Friday evening, 27 August 2010, hearing a smooth and vibrant blend of saxophone, string bass, piano, trombone and banjo by Jack Hutton and Friends. The warm acoustics of the Opera House were perfect for bringing to life music of the twenties, thirties and forties.
The grey-haired, multi-talented quintette played for a mainly grey-haired audience buzzing with renewed energies from their teen-aged years. The musicians evoked memories of Dunn’s Pavillion, where Duke Ellington played six engagements and lapped up ice cream in between numbers. Now follows the line-up of artists and the pieces they played, with notes by Jack Hutton.
Ric Giorgi, string bass and violin, Toronto
Bob Livingston, trombone, Midland
Brian Bauer, clarinet and every saxophone known to man, Buffalo
Jack Hutton, piano and leader, Bala
FIRST HALF
Black Bottom (E flat)
Written by Perry Bradford, a black ragtime pianist and composer around 1909. It set off the Black Bottom dance craze after being featured in a New York variety show in 1927. We usually play it exactly the way it was originally recorded, but Brian finished with a Charleston ending that came from a recording that none of the rest of us had ever heard. That’s what makes playing with this group so interesting (and unexpected).
Clarinet Marmalade (F)
The cutting piece which aspiring jazz clarinet musicians had to be able to play in the 1920s and 1930s
Crazy Words and Crazy Tunes, 1927, as performed by the Varsity Collegians at Gerry Dunn’s first dance hall in Bala in the 1930s. In the piano chorus, I put Fats Waller’s stride classic "Handful of Keys" on top of the tune.
Everything I Have Is Yours 1933, performed at the first and second Dunn’s Pavilions. Brian Bauer played it in the style of Frankie Trumbauer.
I’ll Never Smile Again (F)
Bob Livingston solo of the Canadian tune written by Ruth Lowe in 1939 and recorded by Tommy Dorsey in 1941 with a skinny new singer, Frank Sinatra (his first recording).
Mood Indigo (B flat)
Recalling Duke Ellington’s six appearances at Dunn’s Pavilion
Songs of the Golden Era
Ain’t Cha Glad, written by Fats Waller G (Willie sings). Piano tried to evoke the way that Fats would have played it (he never recorded it, to our knowledge) (Helen cuts in here: And, Jack, the Waller style came across clearly.)
Georgia Cabin (E flat)
Composed by Sidney Bechet (Ric sings)
Nuages (Clouds) Django Rheinhardt
Beautifully rendered by Will Wilson on the guitar.
SECOND HALF
Tribute to Richard Rodgers
If They Asked Me I Could Write A Book
Will Wilson vocal and also Jack vocal (not scheduled)
Manhattan
Tune that launched career for Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
You Took Advantage of Me (E flat)
I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (B flat)
Audience request. Bob Livingston plays signature piece of Tommy Dorsey as played at Dunn’s Pavilion.
Michelle sung by Will Wilson
Embraceable You
Gershwin tune played at request of audience member
Body and Soul (D flat)
Tribute to Hart Wheeler
(Note from Helen: anybody who plays anything in five flats has my awed admiration!)
The Sheik of Araby
Request of audience member, with audience participation in refrains like “Without no pants on”
Struttin’ With Some BBQ (E flat)
Lady is a Tramp (Rodgers Hart) FINALE
ENCORE: Lady Be Good (Gershwin) at request of audience member
Thanks to Jack Hutton emailing the playlist and the fascinating background material. Jack also writes: “We had so many requests over the intermission that we could have played till dawn if we had played them all.
“There were a couple more in the second half that were unexpected ones, bowing to audience requests, but I would have to listen to cassette recordings to remember what they were! I am pretty sure that one of them was "Nothing Could Be Finer Than To Be In Carolina" by Walter Donaldson, one of the greatest composers in the 1920s.
“As you probably gathered, there is quite a love relationship between the band and that special audience, some of whom have not missed one of the seven or eight concerts at the Opera House since our first one. Also, a number of jazz scholars drive up from the GTA and New York State every time they hear that we are playing anywhere. They know we play tunes that you will not hear anywhere else, played as faithfully as we can possibly do it from long-lost old 78 rpm records.”
Again, thank you Jack!
Here is Helen to wind up this accolade with, “A grand old time was had by all.”
Scroll down to see more reviews of the 2010 Summer, and earlier Seasons
Click on the link below to view the new Gravenhurst Opera House website.
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