''I was unwise with eyes unable to see:'' (Lorenz Hart). The Andy Davies rendition of Rodgers and Hart classic 1930s song 'Falling in Love With Love' a song pride of Swansea Andy often plays - confirmed Dorhamite Davies is probably deferential in his head in the direction of the 1957 Kenny Dorham Jazz Contrasts version given his own low toned dexterity. But these days Davies has made the song his own in the context of the ever burgeoning London jazz club domain where he plays a lot across the Soho clubs including over at the Boulevard. Chatting to Andy stood in the middle of Frith Street speaking to marlbank and a polite member of the street choir, the local panhandling community, as our Vanorak thoughts turned to 'Blue Money' before the gig, the Welshman reminisced, his eyes lighting up without being at all performative, about playing with the great JD Allen there over at the Walker's Court spot recently. Here co-leading with Nigel Price where there's a Wes there's always a way in his noodlingly somersaulting digits but for once outclassed harmonically over on the other side of the dimly lit stand by the bass playing Cinderella who certainly went to the ball because Italian boffin of the beat Mirko Scarcia all scorchio tastefully ascended into the Oscar Pettiford altitude. When Saleem Rahman eventually arrived - had he got stuck in a tunnel somewhere? - everything felt right and Andy when he switched to flugel hit sweet spot after soft centre locating the tonal bull's eye time after time.
- continues on Wednesday, Davies co-leading with Liam Stevens. Tickets
Tags: