It’s great to see jazz so involved the life around town. It’s an urban music, so it’s perfect for the new Civic. I caught the Flett trio playing at the Dendy tonight.
Yes, Dendy is a cinema, but it has a bar, and it’s got jazz to entertain cinema goers on Friday night between movie sessions. Despite the unusual location, this gig has been going for at least 6 months. Alison (Ali) Flett (vocals) plays with Phill Jenkins (bass). Normally the trio comprises Paul dal Broi (piano) but Julian Abrahams (guitar) was sitting in when I dropped in. It’s a standards and latin set. The PA is pretty weak near the players (although stronger at the entrance). Where I was, it was hard to catch some of the lyrics and Ali’s capable improvs. It was a shame because both were interesting. Many lyrics accompanied jazz tunes which I mostly knew as instrumentals, eg, Nostalgia in Times Square retitled as Strollin’ and sung with words from Honi Gordon. It was something new to me. Phill continues to impress. He’s playing such simple but solid walks (more panache than flash). I can understand why he gets the work. Julian played perfectly capably and comfortably despite just sitting in for the night. No surprise from trained players like this. It certainly adds to the enjoyment of a night out at the flicks, so thanks go to Dendy as well as the band.
It’s great to see jazz so involved the life around town. It’s an urban music, so it’s perfect for the new Civic. I caught the Flett trio playing at the Dendy tonight.
Yes, Dendy is a cinema, but it has a bar, and it’s got jazz to entertain cinema goers on Friday night between movie sessions. Despite the unusual location, this gig has been going for at least 6 months. Alison (Ali) Flett (vocals) plays with Phill Jenkins (bass). Normally the trio comprises Paul dal Broi (piano) but Julian Abrahams (guitar) was sitting in when I dropped in. It’s a standards and latin set. The PA is pretty weak near the players (although stronger at the entrance). Where I was, it was hard to catch some of the lyrics and Ali’s capable improvs. It was a shame because both were interesting. Many lyrics accompanied jazz tunes which I mostly knew as instrumentals, eg, Nostalgia in Times Square retitled as Strollin’ and sung with words from Honi Gordon. It was something new to me. Phill continues to impress. He’s playing such simple but solid walks (more panache than flash). I can understand why he gets the work. Julian played perfectly capably and comfortably despite just sitting in for the night. No surprise from trained players like this. It certainly adds to the enjoyment of a night out at the flicks, so thanks go to Dendy as well as the band.
Hi Eric,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the nice comments on your blog! For the record, however, the band that was playing at Dendy is called the "Flett" trio :)
Ali