This national guitar hero needs no introduction - hailing from Glasgow and known for playing the guitar with his thumb as opposed to a plectrum.
Jim Mullen is not shy of mingling with his audience. At the bar I had a brief opportunity to catch up with him after the second and final set. He explained the origins of how he came about acquiring his guitar, which looks like a Gibson and sounds like a Gibson, but in fact an Aria. Jim still plays one of two given to him over ten years ago by the Japanese manufacture. The sound is impossible to distinguish from a Gibson.
His lovely wife, the great jazz vocalist Zoe Francis, was there to support the band in the audience. I am hoping to see these two perform in the near future.
Also featuring in the quartet was Clarke Tracy on drums and is no stranger to the scene, featuring regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London. Mike Gorman was on piano, making it look so effortless, and last but not least, Oli Hayhurst on upright bass.
The band was fantastic, notwithstanding Jim's technical microphone issues; but he still had a plan B, using the acoustics of the venue to announce all the tunes with clarity whilst introducing each member of the band by hand gesture for their fabulous solos.
One of the downsides to this wonderful performance was the low attendance. The venue was probably 20% to 30% full. However, the quartet was not discouraged and played as though they were at Ronnie Scott's. In my opinion this displayed true professionalism. It can be too easy to play through the motions, pick up your kit and leave. Not this quartet.
The sound of the Aria guitar had a smooth jazz effect on many of the tunes; again Jim used this to his advantage mixing the performance with smooth jazz, ballads, swing and traditional standards.
The set list included a smooth jazz rendition of Earth Wind & Fire’s After The Love Has Gone. Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life, from around 1933, for which Jim explained ‘it took many years to play and now he can't stop playing it’. This began with an electric-acoustic intro with mild fret slides. Clarke's drum solos on the mean green drum kit were controlled with a feather-like touch. He reminded me of Art Blakey with an indistinguishable signature. This song was made famous by John Coltrane in 1961, starting a number of popular renditions to-date.
Chet Baker's I Fall In Love Too Easily, composed by Jule Styne, is a lovely ballad in which Oli Hayhurst performed an enchanting solo. He received a rapturous round of applause which was well deserved.
This lead nicely to Billie Holiday's The End Of A Love Affair, executed in a fast quick-step 4/4 beat pattern. There was so much potential and kinetic energy in the drum solo; Clark had to pull the kit back as it kept sliding forward. The collective glanced at each other and smirked every time this happened. He probably needs a Protection Racket drum mat. If only Art Blakey could see this virtuoso play; it was impressive.
Jim announced the final song telling the audience they were well informed, joking “it's our starter for 10"... the audience giggled, he looked back at the rest of the collective reminding them this is in Bb ; they played the theme tune from University Challenge, entitled College Boy. If all quiz shows played strong themes like this I would be the next Einstein. A rambunctious ending for this up tempo finale.
There was a brilliant connection between the collective as they smiled and shared their stage jokes with each other and the audience.
We love intimate gigs, although few and far between are of this quality.
Review: Fernando Rose
