By Michael J. West | Published September 2024
The byline alone is enough to make guitar nerds drool. American Jim Hall (1930–2013) is on anybody’s shortlist of all-time great jazz guitarists; Louis Stewart (1944–2016) is considered not only Ireland’s greatest but also one of the three or four most important Irish jazz musicians, period. Imagine, then, the audience’s thrill for this Dec. 26, 1982, duo summit at a Dublin cricket club.
The thrill was well met. Let’s acknowledge first that this is Hall’s show more than Stewart’s — why not? He was the international star and guest here. It begins with “Stella By Starlight,” his favorite opener, and goes on to feature Hall three times in solo tunes. All are incredible, though the trophy goes to his reimagining of “My Funny Valentine” as an English folk strummer. Hall’s other two tracks are an unusually tender “All The Things You Are” and an astonishingly dark “In A Sentimental Mood.”
What really stands out on The Dublin Concert, though, is how well Stewart maintains his prowess and distinction in the face of this celebrated virtuoso. After Hall solos on the first half of “Stella By Starlight,” for example, he falls back into accompaniment as happily and modestly as Stewart had for him, and the Irishman’s twangier, bluesier single-note lines announce themselves with joy and not a little swagger. They share breezy, mutually respectful exchanges on “How Deep Is The Open,” and sensitively undergird each other on the ballad “But Beautiful.”
But on “St. Thomas,” after the American gives up a peppy but fairly light improv, Stewart lets loose with an energized monster of a solo. It’s not an upstaging; Hall encourages it and prods Stewart all the way. It’s just another zesty reminder that individuality, not virtuosity, is what’s really at stake in jazz — and both of these players have it in equal measure.
