In my notes for this review, one word stood out: scintillating. In Chelsea, the Summer Solstice was hot and languid, well matched by the Mediterranean delights of the Jazzato Band. I have heard Hetty Loxston sing in different venues and in at least five different languages. This week we heard their mature Anglo-Italian, style. In the words of their Paolo Conte cover Via con Me ‘it’s wonderful, it’s wonderful’…
This night was devoted mainly to giving fresh lustre to 50s standards, but the Jazzato Band included more recent cinematic material (from The Godfather and Life is Beautiful) plus two original songs by guitarist Fabrizio Bonacci. Compared to the first time I met them in 2015, there was only one change to their team: Richard Muscat took up the clarinet/saxophone part, originally carried by Charlotte Jolly. Alessandro Cimaschi on double bass and Riccardo Castellani on drums completed the original line up. Their debut recording Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano subsequently collected 40 million views on YouTube.
It takes a certain panache (and discipline) to go straight from the flirtatious Un Bacio a Mezzanotte into the rocking Saint Tropez twist, but this band has it. The audience had a wide range of ages, but may have included some fans of Sophia Loren, as they joined in enthusiastically with Mambo Italiano (used in her film Scandal in Sorrento). I particularly enjoyed the Jazzato’s lively version of Carina (from Loren’s film It started in Naples).
All 21 songs (!) were performed with verve, but I reckon Bonacci’s swinging composition At Dawn really deserves to become a Standard. In Via con Me percussionist Castellani had the ‘chips, chips….’ cooked to perfection. Bassist Chimaschi really brought it all home with a Buonasera Signorina that would have had Louis Prima dancing for joy. Perhaps a reviewer should not have favourites, but on this Midsummer night Loxston’s smouldering Estate melted my heart.
SET LIST
Un Bacio a Mezzanotte (Giovannini/Kramer)
Saint Tropez twist (Di Capri)
Carina (Lojacono/Testa)
Love in Portofino (Buscaglione)
Guarda Che Luna (Buscaglione/Ehrenfried)
Volare (Modugno)
Sott’er cielo de Roma (Taccani/Bertini)
At Dawn (Bonacci)
Estate (Martino)
O’Saraccino (Carosone)
Mambo Italiano (Merrill)
Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano (Carosone)
Come Prima (Modugno)
Tintarella di Luna (De Filippi/Mina)
Il Cielo in una Stanza (Paoli/Mina)
La Bambola (Zambrini/Cini)
Southern Impressions (Bonacci)
Brucia la terra (Rota)
Via con Me (Conte)
Buonasera Signorina (Prima)
La Vita è Bella medley (Piovani)
Jazzato have issued two albums with tracks from the list above: La Dolce Vita (2018) and Back in the Swing of Things (2021).
LINK: Pizza Express Live website
Hetty and the Jazzato Band website
