Jazz Night with Adam Fairhall / Johnny Hunter
Adam Fairhall / Johnny Hunte Play: Mary Lou Williams
Adam Fairhall, piano * Johnny Hunter snare drum
Fairhall and Hunter, stalwarts of Manchester’s creative music scene, have established a piano/drums duo to explore early jazz forms through a modern and up to date lens. The piano/drums format is perfectly suited to this, being a favoured format in both Harlem stride and free music. With an album of Winifred Atwell songs under their belts, (yep, that’s right!), they have now put together a programme of the music of Mary Lou Williams, a hugely influential figure who lived and played through the entire history of Jazz from Ragtime to Avant-garde. Her restless and inquisitive spirit is lovingly channelled by this duo.
Comments on their album:
“A wonderfully evocative and enjoyable tribute to a jazz master, by two highly reflective and creative musicians.” Andy Hamilton, THE WIRE
“A hall of mirrors where ragtime and free jazz mutually morph” Nick Hasted, JAZZWISE
“The joyous renditions of Williams’ material are clearly full of affection, even as the pair deconstruct, fragment and even totally abandon them. Ultimately, the merry confluence of jaunty swinging grooves and spirited digressions into the weeds enriches both.” John Sharpe, NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs, May 8th, 1910 – May 28th 1981 was a hugely influential American jazz pianist, arranger and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions, arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell and Dizzy Gillespie.