Carol Kidd - Dryfesdale Hotel - Lockerbie Jazz Festival Friday Oct. 1

Carol Kidd (vcl), Paul Harrison (pno), Nigel Clark (gtr), Mario Caribe (bs), Stuart Brown (dms).

It had been a number of years since I'd heard Carol live and I wondered how she would sound - if the magic that captured me 28 years ago (Edinburgh Jazz Festival) would still be there.

From the opening bars of Georgia on my Mind all bets were off. The magic was still there and a lot more besides.

A more aggressive approach to the melody, improvising from the very first note, this was the bluesiest version of Georgia since Ray Charles.

A Nightingale Swang, rather than sang, in Berkeley Square (to quote an old NYJO track) kept things rolling. It was S'wonderful but How Insensitive of a gentleman to 'leave the room' - Carol's patter ensured he wouldn't do it again!

Time After Time and Skylark were, to quote my neighbour, 'Spine-tingling'. I agreed with him.

The S-T factor continued in the second set when Carol, accompanied only by Nigel's guitar, opened up with Stormy Weather - most appropriate as Liz pointed out in her comments to the previous post.

So many good numbers space prevents listing them all but Can't We Be Friends? deserves a special mention for the easy and relaxed groove that Carol and the boys fell into.

And 'the boys' were indeed Alright With Me as they kicked Cole Porter's classic round the crowded room.

For an encore the most spine-tingling version yet of Once In A While - goosebumps all round.

Mario's bass playing quite brilliant, Nigel's electro classical got a great sound, Paul's piano sympathetic in support and swinging like a supercharged pendulum whilst Stuart drove them all the way.

Made my way back to my hotel on a cloud (no shortage of clouds this morning - nor their contents!) A great start to the festival. My only regret being I missed Alan Barnes and Jim Mullen playing at a different venue. Still I'll catch a gondola into town to hear Alan with Ken Peplowski tonight.

Lockerbie photos.

Lance.