Hot Stuff at Kino-Teatr
TOM BLASS
Mastery of the gypsy jazz guitar style is, for many guitarists both ‘pro’ and ‘am’, seen as the pinnacle of the art of six stringed playing. The ‘creator god’ of the technique is universally regarded as Django Reinhardt of the legendary Quintette du Hot Club de France.
Nesbitt, Moore, Harris
We who follow in his wake spend many hours trying to invest tunes such as Delilah, Nuages and Minor Swing with anything like the suavity and dexterity of the original.
Like turtle hatchlings, we set out into the sea of learning. Most are devoured by the sharks of ineptitude and laziness. Remi Harris is the one in a thousand who has made it to the open water.
Remi and his own Hot Club – a tight trio with Tom Moore on double bass and Chris Nesbitt mostly playing ‘le pompe’ (rhythm guitar) – opened with a beguiling, manouche-y rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow, which combined great warmth with bursts of extraordinary, oh-wow, virtuosity.
A lovely interpretation of Honeysuckle Rose followed, but the evening was no mere re-hashing of classics: we were treated to a seamless segue (and guitar change) into the music of Fleetwood Mac founder Pete Green, a touching composition of Harris’s own inspired by his granny’s last words, (‘I’ve done my bit’), and Money Can’t Buy Me Love, before Harris returned to his Maccaferri guitar, the traditional ‘axe’ of the gypsy jazziste, finishing with All of Me, and encore.
Had we been transported to the night-world of pre-war Paris? Not quite. But it had been a delight to hear the fruits of Harris’s many hours of devotion to his art – he must be given every encouragement to return to Hastings/St Leonards.
Remi Harris and the Hot Club Trio were playing at Kino-Teatr, Norman Road, St Leonards.
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