Jazz Night
The Rodgers and Hart Songbook
featuring the Martin Hart Quintet with vocalist Lynn Garner
The Quintet, together with vocalist Lynn Garner, presented a concert of Rodgers and Hart. The colourful story of Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart was told in Martin's inimitable style and he guided the audience through the variety of numbers from their most famous and not so well known compositions that contributed to the golden age of the Jazz Standard and the world of musical theatre and film.
Read Geoff Cronin's review:
I
didn't mention last nights jazz event at The Speen Festival in advance, because
it was a sell-out many weeks ago. And how often can you say that about a jazz
event? But in a Marque
e
in the village of Speen in Buckinghamshire a packed house listened and stormed
for more! Drummer, and Speen resident, Martin
Hart presented , what I can only describe, as an illustrated
lecture, on the lives and music of Rogers and Hart. He had gathered around him
some of England's best performers. Mike Wills,
back from his recent illness was the reed section,
Brad Lang was on bass,
Ken McCarthy was at the keyboard,
Oxford lecturer on percussion Alan Graham
was on vibraphone, and the lyrics were sung by
Lynn Garner, with Martin of course
playing the drums, and doing the narration. A well rehearsed, well thought out
program, where not only was great jazz music performed, but the excellent
research by Martin resulted in our knowledge of the lives of both Richard
Rodgers and Lorenz Hart being greatly increased in a most entertaining way. Well
done all. It would be wrong to single out any one of the performers before
another, they were a great assembly of talent. But (there are always
"buts" aren't there) Martin must be congratulated
on
putting together
a
superb show.
