BALL, BARBER & BILK IN CONCERT

[karl]

It was good to see what looked to be a full house, the Stalls were certainly full.

This concert was part of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival and first onstage was Chris Barber who was absolutely great, he did talk quite a lot and I couldn't always make out what he said but close to the end he played his "Only Hit" (his words) and that was Petite Fleur.

The first interval came after this and within minutes Chris was out signing his cd's, I bought the European Tour 2011 as it was almost the same as what he played last night.

The second part started with Acker Bilk and I was surprised to see him pushed onstage in a wheelchair (it seems his walking is not good now). I so much wanted to like Acker as I've enjoyed his music over the years but I felt his band was carrying him, also when he spoke he sounded and sang (which he did little of) like Louis Armstrong. However his sense of humour was strong and after some numbers he would say to his band "What Was That" he also told jokes in between every number which drew a hearty laugh from the audience. I felt Acker's best days are behind him and his playing is not so good anymore, also his set seemed the shortest, and then we had a second interval!!!!

The final act was the Kenny Ball band fronted by his son Keith who looks like Kenny only heavier. I have since read he was a drummer for 25 years before starting to sing four years ago. Like Kenny he has a passable voice and a good personality. The band were great but I really could not make up my mind about Keith, he does not play just did vocals. I felt he tried too hard to be nice and in my opinion mentioned his father too often, perhaps that's because it's still early days since Kenny passed away and Keith did say he would keep the band going as long as we wanted to hear them which drew a large applause.

One thing he did say about one of Kenny's hits was he bumped into Petula Clark and told her about his new record and did not want to call it Sayonara so Pet suggested Sukiyaki.

Almost at the end of Kenny's set some people were leaving obviously to get transport back to neighbouring towns which was a shame as they really did play well and received loud applause and cheers.

So all in all, an enjoyable night with Chris Barber's band being my favourite.

[mariana44]

Glad you enjoyed the concert Karl--it sounded like good fun.

[Eman]

Sounds pretty fun, except for Acker Bilk. At least he's trudging along and has a sense of humour though!!