AS ALWAYS, it was a particular pleasure to see this trio with Steve Andrews on alto and tenor saxophones and metal clarinet, Roy Cansdale on double bass and Roly Veitch guitar.

Formed in 2007, they are so obviously comfortable playing together, supporting each other unobtrusively by leaving little breaks, providing fills here and there and varying their volume while always maintaining a rhythmic pulse.

Focusing broadly on the 1930s, they make a particularly good job of recreating that era’s music, evoking some of the period’s distinctive soloists but avoiding any direct copying.

The repertoire too is part of their appeal, as well as what they do with it so, for example we heard Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams with Andrews on his metal clarinet and one of Veitch’s gentle vocals, followed by Darn That Dream with Andrews switching to tenor sax, his solos framing a clear and thoughtful guitar solo.

There was one new tune, by Andrews, named Tour de France (which began that day) with Cansdale’s exemplary walking bass supporting both guitar and saxophones.

Other classic songs included Out of Nowhere, Don’t Blame Me and Davenport Blues as well as I Left My Heart in San Francisco with new lyrics by Andrews which were surely inspired by the Goons and Tom Lehrer and some more obscure tunes like I Wish That I Were Twins and I’m Young and Healthy.

With Roly Veitch responding to a request for a couple of his Geordie dialect songs in the interval this was a very entertaining mix.

Peter Bevan