An evening with Jon Hendricks, the Legendary Jazz Singer at Ronnie Scott's
Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 3:34AM hendricks passin peas star child get the fix
As mentioned in our post on Jambalaya, this week is the London Jazz Festival, running between 12th and 21st November. There has been such an array of events on in our fair city. We love exploring and finding new venues in London, but there are instances where returning to the mother-ship is the only option, so we went to Ronnie Scott’s. We both have had hideous weeks at work. I literally had left work at 4am this morning, so please understand me when I say I needed this evening.
You may have noticed that our posts are always positive and upbeat. This is because we are trying to revel in the pleasurable. I say this as a precursor to the next sentence. You do not go to Ronnie Scott’s for the food. Whilst the food is innocuous, it is simply overpriced and uninspiring for what you receive. However, if you dine, you will be in the best seats. It’s the system, take it or leave.
We opted for a bottle (later to become bottles) of Rioja. It was the type of evening when they offer you water, you politely accept, but have no intention of drinking it.
I chose a hamburger. How do I best describe this? It was on a rectangular plate with chips. Keith opted for sea bass with chorizo. He pointed out that it was a good cut. The fish is tasty at Ronnie Scott’s , I had the scallops the last time we were here. We finished with a cheese platter which was fairly good. The meal was fine. However, it is simply too expensive for what we were eating. We were not there for the food…
The first act was the Michelle Drees Trio, who were accompanied by tap dancers Junior Laniyan and Jessica Murray. The versatile trio of drums, bass and piano were simply fantastic. The clicks from the tap dancing added flavour and soul to the music. The two dancers effortlessly taped away. They looked like they were having so much fun. We loved the energetic exuberance they exhibited and the originality of the two acts brought together. We noticed that Junior and Jessica maintained eye contact quite a bit, as they fed of each other. We loved “O pato”, a Brazilian tune about a duck and his bird mates sambaing by a lake. These acts together were crumble and custard. My only complaint was that it was not long enough.
Next we had the extreme pleasure of being able to experience a performance from the great Jazz legend Jon Hendricks. Even at the age of 89 Mr Hendricks still exhibits so much energy and charisma as he performs that he is awe inspiring. There were times when he spoke to the audience and he forgot a memory. However, he never once stumbled whilst he was performing.
He sang a number of his own songs and we got the chance to hear one of the originators of vocalese at first hand. Vocalese is a method of applying a vocal line in the place of an instrumental where every beat and syncopation is expressed with a lyrical syllable. If you can imagine a complex solo run that could be performed by a bass, trumpet, guitar or piano (to name a few) and put a vocal line in its place, that's what it's all about. There were also a number of scat breaks, including solos from his backup singers Kevin Burke, and daughters Aria and Michelle. Jon’s solos included playing an imaginary stand-up bass, a drumstick flute and freely “skiddly dee bop shoo-wop de skoodle do do do” along to the pacing beats of the drum kit. We love it when Jazz artists air double bass! It’s so cool! We found ourselves smiling like Cheshire cats. I looked around at the audience’s faces. They were the same. Everyone looked so happy and relaxed, whilst they nodded, tapped their toe or clicked their fingers in appreciation. How amazing that this experience can have that effect on us.
It’s not often one gets to witness a pioneer at work but this was certainly one of those moments where we walked away awe inspired. A truly amazing way to celebrate London Jazz Week!
Hendricks, Jon, London Jazz Festival, Michelle Drees, Ronnie Scott's, Scat, Singer, Tap, Vocalese, Vocalist, jazz, junior laniyan in Events, Music, Restaurants 
Reader Comments (2)
Nice, I finally visited Ronnie Scott's about a month ago while reviewing one of the newer Covent Garden hotels and had an amazing time. Didn't get to eat anything though, unfortunately.
Nice review. And an intriguing list of titles of previous posts. Shall try and make it back here some time.
From a friend of Junior and Michelle. Incidentally - you can watch them both perform together at the London Tap Jam, plus other great musicians and dancers - this Sunday, and the last Sunday of every month upstairs at Ronnies. No food in the way up there - just some expensive cocktails, but entry is a fiver, and the atmosphere is always fantastic.