Highly enjoyable concert by Charl du Plessis Trio

GEORGE NEWS - Those even remotely interested in jazzy music or popular classics who haven't seen the Charl du Plessis Trio perform, should put it on their bucket list. The popular crossover trio have been entertaining audiences for 11 years and certainly have the power to please.

On Sunday afternoon, 21 October, those in the know gathered at the Oakhurst Insurance George Arts Theatre to enjoy the latest programme, Opposites Attract. The show brings together popular songs from the opera and the jazz scene. One should not be caught in the trap of thinking "Oh, classics ... how boring."

Charl has applied his considerable talent to turning well-known melodies into something spectacularly exciting. Add to that his quips and the obvious pleasure the three musicians have in performing and you will have an afternoon of enjoyment.

The trio comprises of Charl on piano, Werner Spies on bass and Peter Auret on drums. All three have, apart from years of experience on stage, a life lived on the music scene. Together they perform magic with Charl's arrangements for the three instruments.

Their mastery of their instruments is a pleasure to experience. Each got his moments to shine by doing solos in several pieces.

There were haunting pieces that tugged at the heartstrings, such as the melody from Orphée and Eurydice by Gluck and Für Alina by Arvo Pärt. Composed to console a mother who was longing for her absent daughter, the notes of this piece interestingly have no time value, so performers can choose how they want to give body to the heartache depicted.

Opera melodies included E lucevan le stelle from Tosca, La donna è mobile from La Traviata and Largo al factotum from The barber of Seville. Charl's unlikely "résumés" of the opera plots had the audience in stitches, but his mastery of the music more than compensated for his "ignorance".

Jazz pieces the trio transformed included Duke Ellington's C Jam Blues and Caravan, and P Lee's Where can I go without you?. It is commendable that the George Music Society is including this type of concert in their offering to the public, and we're looking out for more in this vein.

Photo: Instagram