I was really sad to have to leave the Catherine Lima gig at the interval, because the first set was a cracker. I am told that it got even better in the second set. So this will be a truncated note.
The Catherine Lima Band is:
The beautiful voice and presentation of Catherine. Her love of the words just shines through.
We know and admire Paul Higgs as a trumpeter, but for this gig he was (mostly) on the piano,, quite excellent. He also had superb work on the trumpet, and the melodica also made an appearance.
The rest were new to us, but I hope they will return. Alex Field played electric and nylon stringed acoustic guitars. We need to see him back at the club.
Alex Keen was our bassist. He is an excellent soloist and a star accompanist.
Our drummer was Jason Campbell, a guy who knows how to play a room. I enjoyed his work on this gig.
Catherine gave me a set list with authorships, so the research was all done for me. Thank you, Catherine. She gave is an excellent start (that first song is so important) with a Latin tinged “A Taste of Honey” (Scott/Marlow). She has an excellent voice and lovely technique, which gave us the words and their emotional effects. So we started off happy, and got happier through the set. The lady can scat, as she showed us on Gershin’s “S’Wonderful”. Catherine’s phrasing on the Altman/Lawrence “All or Nothing At All” was superb.l.
The Mendez/Bergman blues, “Centerpiece” gave Paul a chance to bring out his beautiful green trumpet. He comped behind the vocals and had a wonderful solo. The melodica made an appearance on the Green/Hayman “I Cover The Waterfront”, appropriate tonality somehow for the song.
I am really sorry to have missed the second set. I hope we have them back.
Next week, the Benn Clatworthy Quartet graces our stage again. They are Benn Clatworthy tenor sax, John Donaldson piano, Simon Thorpe bass, Dave Ohm drums. “Some of the most emotive and creative jazz this side of Sonny Rollins” – Edinburgh Evening News.
Take care,
Dave