Review: FROM JOPLIN TO JOBIM IN 4 HANDS at Hot Jazz Series

From The Charleston to The Great American Sognbook, with Scott Joplin, Marilyn Monroe and even Yidish, the brilliant piano duo Stephanie Trick (USA) and Paolo Alderighi (Italy) performed their arrangements of songs and tunes by all these and many more while performing on a tour around Israel as part of the Hot Jazz Series.

Accompanied by Bass player Ram Erez and drummer Gasper Bertoncelj, both from Israel, the double trio (their definition of the band's composition, because you get two pianists in the "price" of one) opened with an exciting rendition of William Tyers' standard Panama. Afterwards Stephanie explained about the various music styles they play and told the story of how she and Paolo met eight years ago at a piano festival in Switzerland which led to them later on getting married.

They then went back to the 1920's with an arrangement of James P. Johnson's "The Charleston". As the duo works beautifully in collaboration, it's the differences between the playing styles of each one of them as an individual that makes this collaboration work so well, as Trick excels in high speed and the stride style and Alderighi flows as one with the piano, connecting with it especially in swing and jazz styles.
Paying tribute to Louis Armstrong, they then played the 1910 song Shine which he recorded for the film A Rhapsody in Black and Blue in 1931. Bass player Ram Erez had a great solo that contrary to many other bass solos didn't change the energy and speed of the piece and was simply superb.

Later on Paolo addressed the audience, saying this is the couple's first time in Israel and while they tour a lot around the world he usually complains about the food in places they visit given that he's from Italy, but while visiting Israel he was surprised that for the first time the food he ate here was so great that it was even better than in Italy.

From this moment on further great numbers kept coming, along with original arrangements, combinations of many music styles, incredible solos from all four musicians, and especially funny moments between the sharing-a-piano-duo. These numbers included The Entertainer (Scott Joplin), Tiger Rag, Always (Irving Berlin), Whispering (Vincent Rose), the very much crowd pleaser for an Israeli audience Bei Mir Bistu Shein, Mambo Carmel (Erroll Garner) and Some Like it Hot (Marilyn Monroe).

Other than the exceptional talent presented by Stephanie and Paolo, adding as much excitement to the show as they did was drummer Gasper Bertoncelj. Whether it was by his rare controlled volume, remarkable solos, wide range of produced sounds, and quite a bit playful facial expressions, he stood out in this show almost as if he was in the center of it, but most certainly added great value to it in the best possible way.

For the encore of the show the band performed an original composition by Trick, which starts as a rather light blues style played by Alderighi and continues with a boogie-woogie part from Stephanie, continuing with impressive solos by each of the musicians and original transitions between the solos and the different styles in the piece. The number sounded fantastic and felt as if it was just another classic from all the others that were played throughout the evening, providing a wonderful way to finish the entertaining evening while leaving the audience wanting more.

Photo Credit: Nicola Stranieri.

For information about the upcoming shows in the series visit Hot Jazz.

To post a comment, you must register and login.