Preview

In a climate that currently places female jazz singers such as Diana Krall firmly in the mainstream spotlight, the arrival on the UK jazz scene of Sue McCreeth is a significant breath of fresh air. A true musician, an accomplished and accessible writer, and one of those talents whose voice is her instrument, Lincolnshire-born McCreeth served her apprenticeship in dance bands working venues all over the UK, as well as holding down residencies in London's West End and diverse side projects including an adventurous jazz/tabla fusion outfit. Sue has also taken her talents to Spain, Turkey, France and the Middle East. She has performed and recorded her compositions and arrangements with some of the UK's most notable jazz figures, including Steve Melling, Steve Brown, Dave Green, John Donaldson, Andy Cleyndert, Sebastiaan de Krom, and Tristan Mailliot, and her accompanying trio tonight will be drawn from among these illustrious names.

McCreeth's stunning solo CD '500 miles high the air is blue' has drawn universal acclaim from the national press, who praise its beauty, ambition, and originality. These qualities, underpinned by her trio's outstanding instrumental skills, will combine in an evening of warmth and intimacy at the Talbot - sheer class!

' ... a gently unconventional performer ... calmly inventive ... boldly ambitious ... confessional whispers ... she has imagination and heart.' - John Fordham, Guardian

'She has a cool, misty kind of voice and a style which invites rather than insists on attention ... outstanding' - Dave Gelly, Observer

Tonight her band will consist of:

Piano: John Horler

John is one the UK's finest keyboard players, and has worked in an impressive range of musical contexts: with Placido Domingo, Paul Tortelier, Barbra Streisand, Elton John and the London Symphony, London Philharmonic and Royal Ballet orchestras. His jazz work has included playing for Mel Torme, Zoot Sims, Pepper Adams, Shorty Rogers, Kenny Wheeler, Clark Terry and Chet Baker.

Bass: Andy Cleyndert

Born in Birmingham, England, in 1963 Andy took up the double bass at school and turned professional on leaving. He has worked with many visiting soloists including Bud Shank, George Coleman, Ray Bryant, John Hicks and Lee Konitz to name but a few, as well as working with the cream of London based musicians including broadcasting with the Kenny Wheeler Big Band.

The last few years has seen Andrew join the bands of the highly respected Stan Tracey whith whom he has already toured Canada and China as well as performing as part of the hand over celebrations in Hong Kong.

Drums: Mark Fletcher

Mark Fletcher is one of the UK’s most in demand jazz drummers. Dizzie Gillespie, Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Mark Murphy, Tim Garland, Flora Purim, Norma Winstone, Georgie Fame, James Moody, Cedar Walton and Teddy Edwards are just some of the many artists that this exciting musician has worked with.

Review

The jazz cognoscenti have been giving Ms McCreeth, and her notable current CD, a thumbs-up of late, and she and her sparkling trio accordingly drew an audience to the Talbot that, while not large, actually slightly exceeded our conservative estimate for a 'J-word' evening. The first set was a little tentative, a two-way exploration in which Sue and the band checked out our receptivity, and we got the hang of her chosen style, which mixes elements of, say, 70s-80s Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock (sometimes skirting the outer reaches of tonality), with occasional standards which are given a fairly radical reworking. John Horler (piano), Andy Cleyndert (double bass), and Mark Fletcher (drums) represent the very cream of the current UK jazz scene, and their astonishingly broad collectice CV is a tribute to their versatility and to their it-never-stops workaholism: their individual and ensemble work was often breathtaking, and was worth the price of admission on its own, especially in the second set, which definitely shifted up a gear.

McCreeth's original material, such as 'The Air Is Blue', 'Ettu Enna', 'Sat Nam', 'Only Here', and 'Even If Now' (with astonishing drum intro from Fletcher and a disturbing freely atonal coda) echoes melodically the Corea/Hancock et al. canon that she obviously admires, and she grabs the freedom to give full rein to her distinctive voice, which swoop, glides, and coos breathily; while her song endings are occasionally peppered with small, birdlike snatches of sound ... Sue paid fine tribute to Nina Simone with Lil Green's 'In The Dark', 'Moondreams' built to a storming first set closer, while Wayne Shorter's 'Weaver of Dreams' gave John Horler ample space to stretch out on the ivories. On J. Fred Cotts' classic 'You Go To My Head' it was Cleyndert's turn to shine, with a technically brilliant bass solo.

For all her music's eclecticism, and notwithstanding the occasionally nervous feyness of her stage presence, Sue McCreeth won over the greater proportion of our audience, no mean feat considering the alarm and despondency that the mere uttering of the J-word (that's Jazz) can sometimes trigger in these parts. Just goes to show that exploring 'the road less travelled' can often bring its own rewards.