TWO of the better known local jazz musicians – trumpet player Nick Dewhurst and the singer Lydia Rae – played to a capacity audience when they opened the first show of the inaugural Lichfield Jazz Weekender.
Taking some of their favourite songs and arrangements, they were accompanied by bass player Paul Robinson, drummer Carl Hemmingsley and keyboard player Sam Craig for a set that took in some jazz classics, exciting improvisations and some interesting crossover moments.
With Nick equally at home on guitar and trumpet, the set veered from feel good swing jazz, to long elongated tone poems and hit songs by the likes of Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder, along with some original numbers.
Soloing time was shared by all five of the musicians, with Miles Davis’ Four being a good show case for the trumpet, while the scat singing of Lydia Rae – who also showed a more soulful side during the last song of the night Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke, with the complicated bass parts and musical breakdowns being well handled.
Another vocal stand out was Steely Dan’s Walk Between the Raindrops.
A reading of Nick Dewhurst’s Bird Street Blues was a steady, rolling swing blues with a pleasing melodic motif, while the jazz standard If I Were A Bell was very well performed.
