THE spirited singer Deborah Carew was joined by guitarist Harry Diplock and double bass player Marcus Penrose for an evening of swing jazz standards and festive favourites.
With songs by such composers as Duke Ellington and Fats Domino, along with some Christmas numbers given the swing treatment, the musical pedigree of the trio was never in doubt, with inventive and sympathetic playing from all of the performers.
The set started with Ain’t Misbehaving,and Beautiful Love, while Silent Night was played with a swing rhythm and featured some fine melodic soloing that coaxed new tonal colours out of the well known melody.
Bye Bye Blackbird and Duke Ellington’s Caravan were also well played, the bare bones of the arrangements showing how strong the pieces are before the addition of brass and woodwind and percussion instruments.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas was taken at a slower pace, showing the bluesier side of the trio’s sound, while the bass and guitar reading of Stella by Starlight was well received by the attentive audience.
The second half of the concert featured upbeat jazz songs, such as Take The A Train and It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing, as well as softer ballads such as Centrepiece and Night and Day.
Let it Snow and the closing Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire were familiar songs sung and performed in a new way – one of the good things about jazz music, where familiar pieces can be given a new arrangement and shown to an audience in a different light.