What better way to spend a Friday night than listening to three elderly gentlemen play along to old Buster Keaton films? Bill Frizzell is quite well known for being a brilliant jazz/blues guitarist, but tonight (apart from some prolonged fret-board loving to round off the show) was more about his brilliant abilities as a film-score composer. All of the evening’s pieces were accompanied by (or played accompaniment to) short films – projected onto a large screen behind the performers.
The evening started with some more trippy cartoons and the music was trippy enough to send some members of the audience into the land of nod. Their eyes opened sharply once we got to classic 1920’s comedies staring Buster Keaton. It’s surprising to realize that they were genuinely funny and, especially when watched along with a few hundred others, have the ability to really send everyone more than a little giddy.
This is an especially great achievement in the fairly stifled surroundings of the Palace of Arts whose bizarre mix of eclectic architectural styles, and cavernous space leaves you a little cold. Great acoustics it may well have, but few are capable of filling the space – both in terms of seats and in stage presence.
Luckily the Bill Frizzell, Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen show is not an act you ever need to look at, as you are drawn into the whacky cartoons or whacky adventures. The show was also perfectly paced, with only a little bit too much arty-indulgence, mostly balancing the laughs with the more serious aspects of the evening.
This is an especially great achievement in the fairly stifled surroundings of the Palace of Arts whose bizarre mix of eclectic architectural styles, and cavernous space leaves you a little cold. Great acoustics it may well have, but few are capable of filling the space – both in terms of seats and in stage presence.
Luckily the Bill Frizzell, Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen show is not an act you ever need to look at, as you are drawn into the whacky cartoons or whacky adventures. The show was also perfectly paced, with only a little bit too much arty-indulgence, mostly balancing the laughs with the more serious aspects of the evening.
