Jeff Beck didn't quite fill the AsiaWorld Arena last Monday for his Hong Kong debut, but the audience more than made up for it in enthusiasm.
Beck did not perform Hi Ho Silver Lining - the hit song of which he once remarked: 'It's like having a pink toilet seat hung round my neck for the rest of my f****ing life' - and, thankfully, nobody shouted for it, although requests were yelled out for more representative pieces from his repertoire.
Fans of jazz rock and blues were rewarded with many old favourites, with perhaps his most enduring ballad arrangement, Stevie Wonder's Cause We've Ended as Lovers, left right to the end. The rest of the show was a wonderfully mixed bag of original instrumental rock tunes and standards ranging from Somewhere Over the Rainbow to Puccini's Nessun Dorma, which received perhaps the biggest cheer of the night.
New bassist Rhonda Smith sang the vocal on Rollin' and Tumbin', which Imogen Heap contributed to the 2001 album You Had It Coming. Jazz fans had a rare chance to hear Narada Michael Walden - now famous as a record producer but was a drummer when he last worked with Beck - back behind his kit, and some nice keyboard solos from Jason Rebello.
Those with young children might care to check out Rebello's current album, Jazz Rainbow, a collection of jazz reworkings of tunes from children's shows - including the Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine themes.
Jazz guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli has gone to a rather more conventional source for his latest album, Rockin' in Rhythm, a tribute to one of his main inspirations, Duke Ellington. There are interesting nods to Ellington interpreters - among them Pizzarelli's guitarist father Bucky, who contributes one of the finest solos on Satin Doll and his trademark driving rhythm guitar on three other cuts. 'On one of Dad's first LPs there was a version of Satin Doll I always loved,' Pizzarelli says. 'He always plays the song like it's the first time for him, and I'm so glad he played the solo here.'
