“When I was a young man, I used to dream of having an audience like this, quiet and attentive…” guitarist Gordon Giltrap told the crowd packed into Lichfield’s intimate arts centre The Hub at St Mary’s.
“Now it scares me to death!”
I imagine that a fair proportion of the audience for Giltrap’s duet show with jazz and blues guitarist John Etheridge were amateur guitarists, eager to be inspired by two masters create dazzling, shimmering patterns of sound while fingers flew around their fretboards. And these masters of the guitar did not disappoint with their duet pieces, with Giltrap providing the backdrop of chord structures on various acoustic steel string instruments, and Etheridge on a solid rock-style body, letting the melodic themes spin wildly.
Etheridge and Giltrap are part way through an extensive UK tour, concluding with two shows at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Dean Street, London, on 28 and 29 October.
The tour marks the release of their new album, “2 Parts Guitar” (RNL Music).
The performance at The Hub opened with Giltrap performing a clutch of solo pieces, before Etheridge joined him on stage towards the end of the set for duets. And after the interval it was Etheridge’s turn to perform several solo works before the show concluded with more duets. I had reservations about this structure, and would much rather have had the duets dominate the show.
However, Giltrap’s fluent mix of chordal and melodic voicings certainly impressed in original pieces including Loren, and A Christmas Carol (“It’s bloody miserable, of course,” he said of the latter tune, which seemed to me to evoke the style of a folk-influenced Nordic hymn).
Etheridge’s solo contributions included Sonny Rollins’ classic Doxy, with a strong thumb-driven swinging bassline, blues legend Albert King’s Oh, Pretty Woman – with a looped bass underpinning a powerfully flowing solo line – and an eloquent Georgia On My Mind.
But the strongest part of the concert featured the two players together: with a flowing Sadie In May, Roots, and A Dublin Day, all composed by Giltrap.
I hope that John and Gordon continue to develop this project, which follows a strong tradition of guitar duet collaborations – among my favourites are the recordings by John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner for ECM, and there have been fine performances by Ulf Wakenius in separate collaborations with his son Eric and with Gerardo Núñez on the ACT label.
The UK duo have a tremendous depth of experience (Giltrap announcing that this year marks his 60th as a professional musician), and Etheridge in particular has covered a huge range of styles, from swing with violinist Stephane Grappelli to fusion with Soft Machine. Keep the strings zinging, guys.
One Response
I had the privilege of seeing these guys in Otley a week ago. A full house was treated to an exceptional performance. I’ve seen John Etheridge on several occasions in the past and in several different set-ups/formats and he never disappoints. I knew very little about Gordon Giltrap but he was superb (and a great raconteur too).
And like your reviewer, if I was pressed, I would also say that the pieces where they played together were the highlights of the evening.
Long may they run.