Guitarist Martin Vishnick and I started Living Standards with a mutual wish to play the great American songbook in a stripped down, simple way that honoured the tunes and their stories while still finding fresh pathways to explore.
There are inspiring examples of the voice/guitar duo in Jazz – think Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass, Julie London and Bernie Kessel, Alison Burns and Martin Taylor – and this duo was balanced precariously on the shoulders of those giants.
The five-year project survived the pandemic, coming to a close at the end of 2023. Together we brought a shared history of embracing many musical styles in our writing, arranging and improvising which informed our playing. We may have been a bit off the beaten path, but we’d like to think we were still in the same neck of the woods.
Live Videos
Fringe In The Round, Bristol, 4 July 2023 – filmed by Nigel Bryant
It was standing room only with a super appreciative and supportive crowd as always at FITR. The Ronan Perrett Quartet opened with a unique electro-acoustic sound-world. Martin and I played ten tunes including two of my originals and one of his among a selection of classic standards that still manage pack a punch after a century. Can’t say enough what a warm and creative atmosphere saxophonist Alex Merritt and trumpeter Nick Malcolm created with Fringe In The Round. Long may it continue.
A COUPLE recordings
Inspiration
Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass
Julie London and Barney Kessel
Alison Burns and Martin Taylor