This event was partly a birthday celebration for Jacqui Wicks, the lead vocalist in Hard Times Orchestra. Jacqui’s name already appears in this blog, from when I reviewed a performance by Gudrun’s Sisters.
The event had many personal connections for me and my wife, Valerie. One of these is that I grew up not far from the venue. I have also performed as part of a spoken word line-up at Seven Arts centre, as well as attending previous events there. But this was the first time that Valerie or I had heard Hard Times Orchestra.
There was no support act. They did their own compering. The line-up was Richard Ormrod (percussion, bass saxophone, clarinet, ukulele, vocals), Johnny Flockton (guitar, ukulele, backing vocals) and Jacqui Wicks (ukulele, and most of the vocals).
They did two sets, separated by a short interval. Every number, apart from the last one, was trad jazz or blues.
Seven Arts is an intimate venue. The auditorium is separate from the bar area, which of course means no background noise, but it is on the small side, and there is no stage: the artists perform on the same level as the front row of seating. I got the impression that most members of the audience were people who had heard Hard Times Orchestra before, or knew at least one member of the band (like Valerie and me) or both. This was a community event, as much as a professional performance.
Because I was driving, I was completely sober, but I did not have my notebook with me, and so I can’t remember what every number was called. I do remember that the artists whose work was being covered included Cole Porter, Cab Calloway, and Tom Waits. I will describe what I recollect of the musical techniques.
Hard Times Orchestra is not literally an orchestra, since it only has three musicians, and no conductor, but it is certainly one of those ensembles in which the audial impact is greater than you might expect from a mere consideration of the number of performers. The band who are the past masters at this in my opinion are Bob Marley and The Wailers. The way The Wailers did this was threefold: every member of the band has to be able to sing, every member of the band has to get the utmost out of whatever instrument they have in their hands at the time, and it also helps if as many people as possible can play more than one instrument. Hard Times Orchestra use similar techniques.
The performance itself contained a brief discussion of Jacqui Wicks’ vocal technique. After a previous performance, someone had said to her that she sounded like, “A Disney Princess”. It is true that the numbers divided into the ones that dealt with malice, infidelity, violence, and sex, and those that were conventional love songs, and Jacqui adapts her vocal style accordingly.
Richard Ormrod plays the clarinet as if he were playing the kazoo. By that I mean that he makes it look and sound easy. I was impressed by his bass saxophone playing, which reminded me of the bass saxophone on the recording I have heard of Ol’ Man River, by Bix Beiderbecke.
It was difficult for me to observe Johnny Flockton’s guitar technique, other than by listening to the music he made, because he stood for most of the performance with the neck of his guitar pointing straight at me. What I did see of both his left and right hand technique was impressive, both in accuracy and ability to put feeling into the sound. For every number, he played a semi-acoustic guitar with the amp controls turned to the “acoustic jazz” settings. Except for the last one.
I can’t remember what the last track was called, but it was a complete departure from the whole of the rest of the set. It required an augmented drum kit for Richard Ormrod. Earlier numbers had touched on dark subjects in the lyrics, but the last one was much darker and edgier in its arrangement, and instrumentation. Johnny Flockton used a Gibson: a proper, solid body Gibson, and it was very much set to “heavy rock” mode. While Jacqui was singing the lead vocals , she made a circling motion in the air with her left hand. You had to be there to appreciate this, but it was just right. It was the kind of thing that a virtuoso performer adds, and where someone else might say, “Why do you need to do that?” the virtuouso knows that it works.
I will definitely be going to hear Hard Times Orchestra again.
iamhyperlexic 