FASCINATING RHYTHM - A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE GERSHWIN - Libby Hammer and Ali Bodycoat with the Kim Anning Quartet

Mon 23 Feb 2009 @ 8:00pm

Admission Members $15 PJS Student Members $8 Concessions $20 Guests $25

When George Gershwin and his brother Ira began writing music for the stage in the early 1920s, the world did not seem quite ready for their unique style of blending musical genres.

The Gershwin brothers explored sorrow as well as glory in their tunes, pushing jazz into a new dimension and creating a vital and revolutionary style of music. Today, George Gershwin is considered one of America's greatest composers.

For this evening’s concert acclaimed jazz vocalists Ali Bodycoat and Libby Hammer team up with guitarist Kim Anning and his quartet to present a selection of Gershwin masterpieces.

From the wistful Someone To Watch Over Me and the essential The Man I Love to lesser-known works such as By Strauss, in which Ira smilingly mocks his own brother's writing, Ali and Libby will take you for a light-hearted and poignant trip down memory lane, peeking into a few hitherto unexplored nooks and crannies along the way.

Kim Anning's talents lie not just in the playing of his instrument but in arranging as well, and the ladies will sing some fabulous duet arrangements, such as the haunting My Man's Gone Now and the slightly slurred Vodka.

Anyone who saw the show when it was presented some years ago at Jazz Fremantle will no doubt remember Kim's unexpected twist on I Got Rhythm and no Gershwin tribute would be complete without featuring the most famous rhythm changes of all.

To fill in the gaps will be a wonderfully supportive rhythm section - Chris Foster on piano, Shane Pooley on bass and Toby Anning on drums.

Seven decades after his death, the music of George Gershwin remains as ubiquitous as it was during his brief but prolific lifetime and his memory lives on through his fans and admirers worldwide. Come along tonight and enjoy music that is still as fresh, relevant and ravishing as it was when first written.

The last word should go to Gershwin's brother and primary lyricist, Ira, with a line he liked so much he set it to George's music twice - in I Got Rhythm and Nice Work if You Can Get It .

“Who could ask for anything more?".