Over two years after our last visit, we booked a return to Stoke by Nayland hotel and spa and to Jazz At The Fleece to sample the guitar delights of Antonio Forcione. In the interests of all I should disclose that we hadn’t heard of Antonio, which is of course a sad reflection on us rather than the artist, but we were intrigued by the short bio and reviews on the Fleece site and decided to give it a shot. As an aside, the Jazz at the Fleece offer at the hotel (overnight stay, two tickets to the concert and breakfast the following morning is a cracking deal, in my very humble opinion!
And before the main event, a quick shout out to the hotel again for the excellent lunch we had on the day we arrived – the food and cooking were both at a level beyond our expectations and merited the term fine dining more than many a restaurant boasting such experiences.
Antonio Forcione was of course the main reason we went along and he was a little bit of a revelation. Two amplified but acoustic guitars, a nice line in self deprecating humour and a mixed and varied programme were all present and correct. ‘Touch Wood’ set the scene, demonstrating the importance of rhythm in Antonio’s style whilst also demonstrating the first of his anecdotes, this one about his childhood and his relentless desire to tap out rhythms on any surface that came to hand. It was only the pleas of the shoemaker who lived below the Forcione family that resulted in the switch to guitar, but these formative years were what inspired his imaginative use of the body of the instrument to generate the physical and rhythmical ‘hammer-on’. He played a variety of his own compositions, influenced by his nomadic lifestyle, so we had Cuba, Spain and Africa all well to the fore. Amongst the Forcione arranged covers, I include ‘Guantanamera‘ Brubeck’s ‘Take 5‘, Beatles ‘Come Together‘ and Mancini’s ‘Pink Panther Theme‘ – all radically reworked, but all containing the essence of the original work. He also finished his set with a very fine rendition of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine‘.
His own compositions were equally varied and in all of them, we couldn’t help wondering how he generated the depth and breadth of sound from the guitars (only one at a time obviously, otherwise that phrase would make me look like an idiot) – I think it was probably the sheer speed and dexterity that fools the eye into thinking that another musician or recording must be part of the whole sound, but I can assure all my devoted readers that it was him and him alone.
All I can add by way of conclusion is that he was mesmerising and Mrs. No Name declared him a revelation. Now, if I could only remember the name given to the use of the left hand to provide melody usually associated with the right (for a right hander), rather the inverse of what the orthodoxy is used to seeing!! Antonio did name it but sadly I didn’t catch it. Only downside was how an individual with that much talent could only attract the size of audience he did.
On the night, we bought the Sarah Jane Morris / Antonio Forcione collaboration “Compared To What” and won the Frank Morgan CD “You Must Believe In Spring” in the Fleece raffle. Happy days.
In similar news, we return two weeks hence for a very different artist but one that we trust will be equally entertaining!