With his lively and energetic personality that reflects the tight swing rhythm of his acoustic guitar, Graeme Mearns entertains the intimate audience of the Jazz Bar with a repertoire that combines classic tunes from different genres. All treated in a swing, up-tempo manner where echoes of the “hot” jazz guitar of Django Reinhardt are accompanied by a guitar phrasing made of soft harmonic melodies that accelerate into fastened blues licks.
The show starts with a personal interpretation of Blitzkrieg Bop, and continues for about an hour through, among others, some Tom Waits’ tunes, classic jazz standards like Night and Day, and ends with a personal and delicate interpretation of Moon River.
In the interval between the songs, Mearns tells anecdotes of his life, where through some colourful episodes he transmits his love for music, and jazz in particular. The interludes results in being complementary to his playing, revealing aspects of his musical choices, and they function as a diverting introduction to the songs that follow. He jokes about the quality of his voice, not at its best during the night, and he imagines the reactions of The Ramones to his particular reintepretation.
The rhythm of the show oscillates from frenetic excitement during the classic blues Got My Mojo Working, where he also performs a funky interlude during the solo, to the softer melodies and a gentler handling of the guitar during other tunes such as Tom Waits’ Drunk On The Moon.
An hour of great tunes played with an attractive swing character, alternating between soft and hard picking, a dynamic that makes the show a moment of pleasant and captivating entertainment.