Entertainment For Lively Minds
(Lunchtime with) Gwilym Simcock
Posted by Specs_Beard on 17 November 2011 - 9:33pm.
When:
16 November 2011
Where:
St James, Piccadilly, London, UK
Comments:
On a kind of 'pianist's day out', Hannah (of Mingle Fame) and I arrived early to grab the VERY front pew for this free London Jazz Festival recital. The young, fearsomely talented (and as H pointed out, troublingly good-looking) GS may sound familiar - he was nominated for this year's Mercury. Solo, he maintains hypnotic, exhilarating grooves while perfoming melodic sorcery - surely more than 10 notes are sounding together. You don't miss other imaginary band members. He gamely explained the ideas behind the pieces - the wonderful 'Gripper' had the steady, weary left hand trapped at a party by the constant nagging chatter of the right. You could hear this. A genius.
The Audience:
Packed out. Star attendee was the angry jazz fanatic on H's left who shouted at the folk moving the piano for 'not understanding the acoustics'. We saw him on the way out. Still angry.
Food & Drink:
It seemed a little gauche to try and steal any communion wine or wafers (and H was contemplating kidnapping GS), so to avoid blasphemy and arrest we went off afterwards for a Japanese meal nearby.
It Made Me Think...:
...that I should probably practise a bit more often. (Piano. Not churchgoing.)
It was utterly fab
Gwilym was delightful. His music was amazing. The company was terrific too :-)