| gig reviews 2009 |
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| Hotsy Totsy - June |
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Debbie Arthurs (dms, reeds, vcls), Gabriele Gad (pno, vcls), Rachel Hayward (gtr, bjo, vibes, vcls), Zoe Lambeth (rds, vcls), Isobel Toner (bs) |
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The ladies arrived with what appeared to be an endless amount of instruments and equipment to unload but, with the help of some committee members and a couple of the audience the stage was soon set up and ready.
The girls retired to the ladies room and  reappeared in their posh frocks to swing into ‘Singin’ the Blues’ with the full works right from the start. A rocking, two beat, piano led rhythm with vocal harmony and some tenor sax work created a sound quite different to anything we’d heard in the club.
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| May Review - Barnhart/Hallam |
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The front line had a ball with a tenor and baritone jam session on ‘Exactly Like You’ and 1940’s style vocals in ‘Until the Real Thing Comes Along’ ‘Don’t Mean a Thing.........’ with Zoe’s blistering alto sax, Debbie’s drum solo complete with woodblocks and Rachel’s charmingly understated solo on vibes showed that the band had really warmed up. There followed all possible configurations of instruments and voices with Debbie roving between drums and reeds Rachel picking her way from the fret chair to vibes with Gabriele’s robust piano always driving the beat and Isobel making sure that things didn’t run out of control. Their special Boswell Sisters 3 part harmony was put to good use on ‘42nd Street’ before Debbie and Zoe harmonised clarinets for ‘Creole Love Call’ and just to show us they are thoroughly modern misses we had the retitled ‘We’re Gonna Sit Right Down and Text Ourselves an Email’ in the aforementioned 3 part harmony.
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by Peter Farrall |
photos by Val Wood |
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Gabriele took us back to 1930 with a Dietrich like ‘Falling in Love Again’ sung in two languages – very nostalgic - and on to a string of pre war classics, ‘Mean to Me’, ‘After You’ve Gone’ (nice banjo solo) Cheek to Cheek’ plus a short break to free up Rachel’s vibes. Must remember to bring some WD40 when we have vibes on stage!
‘Paper Moon’ was played over a Caribbean sort of rhythm with the piano and drums creating a steel band effect and finally ‘The Glory of Love’
The band brought something different with five musicians whose individuality showed through in the music to provide great entertainment. There were some ragged moments; they took risks of which just a few didn’t quite work out but, when they did, we had the pure joy of listening to live jazz just as it happens. This is what club jazz is all about. Thanks girls. |
