Bold tribute to Astaire

Press, 14 March 1984, Page 14

Bold tribute to Astaire

By

ALLAN FRANCIS

PETER SKELLERN. “Astaire,” with the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and the Crikey Choir. MERCURY 9109 702. When an artist is about to a tribute to another who ers on the legendary, is it simply a matter of imi-

tating the great one or is it encumbent on the payer to stand a respectful distance off and just hint at all the good things which have all but passed into happy oblivion? Skellern is bold enough to sound like Astaire without getting uncomfortably close

to the venerable hoofer. The music is low key with some gentle piano supplementing the singer’s insinuations; the whole is subtle enough with the aid of help from a brass band and a most un-Astaire-like choir. All the songs strike right at the heart of Astairedom. Half the programme is taken up with Cole Porter numbers and the rest are typical Berlin or Gershwin numbers such as “No Strings,” “Isn’t This a Lovely Day,” “Night and Day,” “Cheek to Cheek” and finally, the hardy “Putting on the Ritz,” which avoids the present-day slickness of Taco. The syncopation is therefore cunningly withheld to the limits of the brass band’s perpendicular rhythms; the pace of all is slower than Astaire’s bubbling good-humoured ditties which ended up in some adroit legwork with Ginger Rogers. Skellern simply shadows Astaire in pastel shades rather than the bold, black and white effort one might have expected. He sounds like Astaire in an off-hand way but no-one would ever believe that he is listening to the man himself. Skellern makes no pretence at being a great

singer — but then Astaire had a certain wooden quality which defied any claims towards vocal speciality* Whereas Astaire was essentially a visual artist, Skellern ends up as a working man’s Noel Coward, but he does it so nicely. JEAN CLAUDE BORELLY. Les Rues de Saint Tropez. 12 tracks featuring Jean Claude Borelly, trumpet, of numbers by Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Luis Maria Serra. WEA 250350-1. There is no mistaking who Jean Claude Borelly listens to most of all when he is not playing trumpet himself. A short trip across the border into Germany and Bert Kaempfert and there we have the French trumpet player’s idol, whom he tracks with relentless ease. Not only the' Kaempfert style and sound, but also the type of number, the arrangement and backing are so close that one could be forgiven for thinking that one is listening to the German himself. Only in the matter of verve is Borelly lacking. For all Kaempfert’s mechanical arrangements, it must be granted that he plays with some dash and considerable variety within a certain framework,

whereas Borelly is pretty much of a muchness throughout. It is pleasant listening though, and Borelly’s technique is quite inoffensive though it could do with a little more fire. As with his leader, Richard Clayderman, Borelly sticks very much to a pattern which will please his many fans but in the process breaks into no new frontiers of music making. THE GREEK WAY. Popular Sounds of Greece by the Wellington Greek Band. KIWI PACIFIC TRL 036. Every colour and creed have a right to be seen and heard — so the Greeks have a turn in this colourful album of bouzouki tunes plus a couple of well known ones, “Zorba’s Dance” and “Never on Sunday.” What would we do without “Zorba?” No Greek programme would be quite the same unless this exhilarating tune made at least one appearance, but the rest of the numbers are only for the enterprising. The Wellington Greek Band is obviously a group of relaxed musicians engaged in exploring the full spectrum of their own country. This album summarises all the colours of a colourful race and should interest everyone.