There is a much loved and well respected catalogue of tunes, The Great American Songbook, which despite its popular, jazzy origins has garnered a reputation of legitimacy and cleanliness. So how refreshing to have a show which scrapes the underside of that genre and reminds us of the dirty side of that tradition: blues songs which relish in the less salubrious human appetites! No urbane sophistication here. The show comprises a selection of once banned songs from the 1920s to the 1940s, where imaginative lyricists plunder every context, from the kitchen to the cabbage seller, to find new metaphors that glory in the unmentionable, universal act.
Songstress Suzanne Noble commanded the stage in a beautiful vintage outfit, a crushed velvet looking robe which immediately brought us into the smokey world of the speakeasy... and the boudoir. Her gravelly voice brought a ironic and cheeky sense of humour to the innuendo of the dirty blues songs, dragging out every double entendre and winking on every cheeky suggestion with guiltless glee.
Pianist 'Gorgeous' George Webster played witty variations on his chord progressions, bringing life and colour to tunes that can otherwise feel very repetitive. One of the challenges of a dirty blues show is keeping the gag fresh, as you find ever more inventive ways of referring in symbol to the same thing. But supported by Noble's charming banter, which was filled with knowledgeable context and funny gags, and Webster's improvisational playing, moving between swing, boogie-woogie and even gospel moods, the show managed to keep the humour and light heartedness in play from start to finish.
A wonderfully funny and naughty night reviving songs that deserve to be remembered and enjoyed.
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