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Louis Stewart & Jim Hall: The Dublin Concert
By
Chico Hamilton
drums1921 - 2013

Jimmy Giuffre
clarinet1921 - 2008

Ben Webster
saxophone, tenor1909 - 1973

Ella Fitzgerald
vocals1917 - 1996

Sonny Rollins
saxophoneb.1930

Art Farmer
flugelhorn1928 - 1999

Bill Evans
piano1929 - 1980
Gerald Davis, founder of Ireland's first jazz record label, Livia Records (set up ostensibly to record Dublin guitarist

Louis Stewart
guitarb.1944
The tapes would outlive Davis, whose Livia Records label expired along with him in 2005. Why Davis had never released the tapes is unclear; perhaps the quality was simply not good enough. Happily, Livia Records was revived by producer/radio DJ Dermot Rodgers, who came upon the tapes in 2022. He passed them to Seán Mac Erlaine (of This Is How We Fly fame) whose careful editing and mastering has brought sixty minutes of of the two-hour concert back to scintillating life. Sound interference rendered the other hour unpresentable, at least until digital editing moves to the next level of sophistication. Then we can look forward to The Complete Dublin Concert.
Until such times we must be content with this truncatedthough still heftymusical time capsule. And what a beauty it is. Stewart, whose own CV included stints with

Tubby Hayes
saxophone, tenor1935 - 1973

Benny Goodman
clarinet1909 - 1986

George Shearing
piano1919 - 2011

Ronnie Scott
saxophone, tenor1927 - 1996
Rhythmically, they sound very similar indeed. Both, in fact, give a masterclass in dynamic comping as the other solos. Stewart, like Hall, was renowned for the fluidity and quick-witted invention of his soloing, though as Irish guitarist

Chris Guilfoyle
guitarHall plays unaccompanied on three tracksa beautifully weighted, chordal-framed version of Jerome Kern's "All The Things You Are," a wholly original take on Richard Rodgers' and Lorenz Hart's "My Funny Valentine" that toggles between rhythmic flurry and melodic finesse, and a darkly lyrical recalibration of

Duke Ellington
piano1899 - 1974
The fourteen-page accompanying booklet features an essay by Philip Watson (author of Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer, Faber & Faber, 2022) who places the musicians and this concert in historical context, with further valuable insights coming from former Stewart collaborators

Ronan Guilfoyle
bass, electric
Jim Doherty
pianoTrack Listing
Stella By Starlight; 2 Degrees East, 3 Degrees West; But Beautiful; All The Things You Are; Saint Thomas; My Funny Valentine; How Deep Is The Ocean; In A Sentimental Mood.
Personnel
Louis Stewart
guitarJim Hall
guitarAlbum information
Title: The Dublin Concert | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Livia Records
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