There May Be Other Nights Like This But...

Alan Glen Trio: Alan Glen (pno), John Pope (bs), David Carnegie (dms). Take It To The Bridge: Dave Weisser (tpt/vcl), Chris Finch (pno), Barrie Ascroft (bs), Eric Stutt (dms). + Harley Johnson (pno) & Dan ? (gtr).

The stars have rarely shone brighter than tonight at The Chilli. The Alan Glen Trio, making their monthly pilgrimage to perform their miracles before the eyes and ears of the disciples in the upper room, have seldom played better on a host of good tunes familiar and otherwise.

"How Deep Is The Ocean?" - the question became academic as Alan has more depth to his playing than any ocean - "The Way You Look Tonight" swung along superbly as the Jerome Kern tune invariably does when in the hands of such a master practitioner of the black and white art as Alan. "The Touch of Your Lips", a gentle mover, saw some clever bass work from John Pope. John's playing has moved forward in Giant Steps and tonight he was the revelation of the band despite the handicap of some less than perfect amplification. David Carnegie - what more is there to say? He drives when driving is called for and takes a back seat when sensitive brushwork is the name of the game - except, of course, for his powerhouse drum solo finale.

A great set.

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Earlier, Chris Finch occupied the piano chair for the second week whilst Barrie played bass. They both did good.

Dave had some vocal moments on "Secret Love", "A Foggy Day", blew both muted and open horn on "Straight No Chaser" as well as throwing in some muddy water/hollow log lyrics that we may be familiar with. He was also generally entertaining with his inter-round summaries.

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For the final set a young guy called Dan sat in on guitar and had a nice solo on "Autumn Leaves" although he too struggled a little with the amplification.

Then, just when you thought it couldn't get any better on came Harley for "Well You Needn't".

Perhaps he was offloading his frustrations from last week at The Cluny or maybe he was champing at the bit having had to wait until the last number to start kicking but when he kicked he sure as hell kicked.

This was Monk meets Keith Jarrett meets Harley Johnson. Spurred on by Eric's empathic drumming this brought the evening to a close although I think everyone wanted it to last forever.

As someone remarked, "Where else can you get a hundred quidsworth for a pound?"

Only a hundred? Cheapskate.

It's priceless.

Lance. PS: Admiring remarks were passed on the TITTB poster. Perhaps Dave can scan me a copy and reveal who the artist is.