Louis Stewart & Noel Kelehan | "Some Other Blues"

The previously unreleased ‘Some Other Blues’ is regarded as a Holy Grail of Irish Jazz as it’s the only known studio recording of Louis Stewart and Noel Kelehan(pronounce “keel-a-han"). While Stewart was a local hero and internationally renowned guitarist, Kelehan was not well known as a jazz pianist outside of Ireland due to his TV-based composing, arranging and conducting, even though jazz was his first love.

Here we find Louis Stewart and Noel Kelehan, two giants of Irish jazz, in the kind of electrifying form that thrilled Irish jazz audiences in the 1960s, and 70s, in a programme of duets that scale the heights of swing, virtuosity, and interplay.

Guitar and piano duet albums are uncommon in jazz, with Bill Evans and Jim Hall’s probably the best known. As Louis and Noel were huge admirers of both, they may well have been an inspiration for ‘Some Other Blues’.

Both men were bone fide virtuosi, and there is a real sense of them revelling in their abilities, sparring with each other, and enjoying the excitement of the chase. While the omission of bass and drums opens many possibilities, it jettisons the safety net of the rhythm section.

Of the nine tunes, three of them – ‘You Stepped Out Of A Dream’, ‘Minority', and ‘I’ll Remember April’ are taken at blistering pace. And despite sometimes living on the edge of playable tempos, Louis and Noel don’t drop as much as a beat, even in the white heat of ‘I’ll Remember April’ with its extraordinary tempo of 285bpm. They each unleash lightning-fast solos, while playing through a set of chord substitutions that pile more chords on top of an already chord-rich piece.

The harmonic sophistication is a common feature of the album’s medium and fast tempo tunes, and the arrangements have Noel’s fingerprints all over them. His ability to jump backwards and forwards between keys, and the arrangement of Coltrane’s ‘Some Other Blues’, in which the first two choruses of both the guitar and piano solos feature two chords in every bar which constantly change key, is typical of Noel. 

Louis is a perfect partner to Noel’s harmonic daredevilry, with his flawless technique, effortlessly flowing melodies, and deep swing. Each man is the perfect foil for the other, provoking and challenging in a playful way. This is very clear on ‘Singin' In The Rain’, where Noel plays the melody in minimalistic octaves, while Louis provides an almost Freddie Green-esque strummed accompaniment, making for the album’s most mischievous take.

The album’s two ballads, Tadd Dameron’s classic ‘If You Could See Me Now’, and Noel’s own beautiful ‘I Only Have Time To Say I Love You’ reveal two masters capable of the kind of deep lyricism that the best ballad playing requires.

The album was recorded in Bray, just south of Dublin, in the same studio where Louis Stewart recorded his solo Out On His Own masterpiece just a few months earlier.