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Jack Kelly's Honkatonktet At Scott's Jazz Club
ByScott's Jazz Club
Belfast, N. Ireland
April 26, 2024
Who knows what sort of music

Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955
Kelly was last on All About Jazz' radar at Brilliant Corners 2023, where his trio opened for Run Logan Run. His short set of original compositions that day displayed something of the country-ish flavor that can color

Bill Frisell
guitar, electricb.1951
Another year in the States, working on a farm in California, traveling through Oregon, Washington, Indiana and Montana, playing bluegrass, old-time Appalachian and busking in New Orleans, has extended Kelly's musical vocabularyand his confidenceconsiderably.
The set opened with the Tin Pan Alley song "Lovesick Blues," which was a huge hit for Hank Williams in 1949. Kelly's reasoning was obviously that there is no point playing country music without singing country style. He held nothing back, displaying a strong, faux-Southern twang that stopped just short of Williams' yodeling, with swinging accompaniment from pianist

Scott Flanigan
pianoJazz and blues coursed through Flanigan and Chmielewski's solos on the Hank Williams/Jimmie Davis tune "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle Blow" and on a driving version of "Frankie and Johnnie," a pre-Civil War murder ballad and country staple recorded by everyone from

Big Bill Broonzy
guitar, acoustic1893 - 1958

Bob Dylan
guitar and vocalsb.1941

Johnny Cash
guitar and vocals
Josh White
guitar, acoustic1914 - 1969

Dan Costa
pianob.1989
Boppish fire raised the temperature a notch on "Back Home in Indiana," (recorded by

Original Dixieland Jazz Band
band / ensemble / orchestra- 1936

Peter Green
guitar, electricThe Hank William's tune "Praise the Lord I Saw The Light" finished the first set on a high, morphing from country-gospel swingvia a biting blues-laced solo from Chmielewski and an equally inspired response from Flaniganinto loose-limbed terrain that sparked, flamed and then gently receded like a The Grateful Dead jam.
The second set got underway with Hank William's million-seller "Your Cheatin' Heart," and featured a delightful,
Chet Atkins
guitar
Louis Jordan
saxophone, alto1908 - 1975
Taking things down a notch, Kelly and Chmielewski duetted on a caressing interpretation of "Louisiana Fairytale," each in turn unfurling lyrical solos of understated charm. Derry-based singer-guitarist Mick Hagan swelled the Honkatonktet ranks briefly, taking lead vocals on a rollicking, tub-thumping version of

Blind Boy Fuller
guitar, acoustic1907 - 1941
Kelly resumed vocal duties on William's much-covered "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," with Flanigan making a playful diversion into

Sonny Rollins
saxophoneb.1930
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