Moonray pianist Joe Hill with tenor Andrew Irwin.
Operatic tenor Andrew Irwin - a member of the ensemble cast of the Stadttheater Bremerhaven in Germany - is nothing if not versatile. Less than three years ago he issued Lough Erne's Shore - settings of traditional melodies accompanied by classical pianist Ruth McGinley.
Here at Saddlers - a large bistro/wine bar on Enniskillen's Belmore Street nestled in the shadows of Forthill Park's Cole's Monument - in front of a very full room, Irwin was accompanied by jazz pianist Joe Hill who will be at Ronnie Scott's in crooner James Hudson's band next month - he's also on Moonray, a vintage UK jazz vocals highlight in 2024 that we reviewed back in March.
Irwin and Hill were bunkmates at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester as teenagers and share a love of Leeds United.
No whistling in the Irwin interpretation of 'Mr Bojangles'
After support was provided by some of Andrew's students, material covered included 'Straighten Up and Fly Right,' 'There May Be Trouble Ahead,' 'The Lady is a Tramp,' 'One for My Baby,' Jerry Jeff Walker's 'Mr Bojangles' - one of the best features of the evening, we love Sammy Davis Jr's version of the poignant song (covered well by Robbie Williams in the noughties) best. Singing Paul Anka's 'My Way' synonymous with Frank Sinatra at the end of the first set shouldn't have worked but actually did. Neither should the inclusion of 'Abide With Me,' a hymn that has deep Enniskillen connections given that its writer Henry Francis Lyte attended Portora in the town in the 19th century.
Andrew isn't a jazz singer. But certainly he has a powerfully rich voice and can sing the phonebook. We have heard him before a few times including a guest slot at Blake's of the Hollow at Gaby McArdle's, Pat McManus and Jim McGrath's Friday night session when we thought he was like a young Brendan O'Dowda (1925-2002) - the sublime interpreter of Percy French. It was nice to see fine accordionist/guitarist Jim in the Bistro audience.
Another highlight of the evening was the version of old Portoran Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy's 'Mother Dear'. There's a great portion in the song which made us laugh…
When I was a teenager, I really did believe
That my parents had adopted me
And the way I carried on they must have thought
They'd brought the wrong little baby home from maternity
From Victory For The Comic Muse (Parlophone, 2006)
… and for sure Irwin knows how to do humour well. His theatrical training helped with the vivacity of his performance. And he certainly had the audience eating out of his hands. Later the evening became more of a come all ye singalong with 'The Fields of Athenry,' the Irish rugby anthem, and even Neil Diamond's late-1960s classic 'Sweet Caroline,' the Northern Ireland football team anthem, making the cut. Irwin's version of Van Morrison 1989 classic Avalon Sunset's 'Have I Told You Lately' was also a strong suit of the evening.
A version of this article appeared later in the 4 July edition of The Impartial Reporter newspaper
Joe Hill plays Ronnie Scott's in James Hudson's band on 7 July
A pleasant evening - punters received vino and supper for the price of a ticket. It was the first jazz gig anywhere in Enniskillen in quite a while. Let's hope there are more soon before FLive returns in the autumn given the drought - but clearly an appetite going by the turn-out - for jazz however interpreted locally. Photos: marlbank
Andrew Irwin, top left, and Joe Hill playing Saddlers Bistro, Enniskillen last night
Tags: Lives