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George Melly

The Ultimate Melly

Candid CCD 79843

Since parting company with John Chilton's Feetwarmers a couple of years back, George Melly has formed an extremely fruitful and mutually sympathetic alliance with one of the UK's most respected mainstream' outfits, Digby Fairweather's Half-Dozen.

Actually, the term mainstream does the unit scant justice: on this album alone, Dixieland rubs shoulders easily and naturally with R&B, traditional jazz with rock-oriented guitar solos, pure entertainment with more recherch‰ material. Guests include Van Morrison (Midnight Cannonball', Backwater Blues'), Jacqui Dankworth (Let's Call the Whole Thing Off', The Butter and Egg Man', both amusing duets with Melly) and the Swingle Singers, not to mention a string section, so there is plenty of vocal and instrumental variety on display, and Melly presides over the whole with his customary breezy good nature.

Inevitably, the Melly pipes are somewhat furred these days, but his personality, stage presence and the easy manner in which he imparts his great knowledge and love of the music from Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller through Billie Holiday to bluesy swing remain unimpaired, so he is able to move uncontrivedly between affecting visits to the likes of God Bless the Child' or As Time Goes By' and vaudeville-stage-patter-type songs performed with Fairweather playing the straight man.

A good-time album that will appeal most to those wishing to remind themselves of an enjoyable evening at one of Melly's gigs.