Alice Grace (voice), Peter Gilligan (piano), Paul Grainger (bass), Russ Morgan (drums).
(Review by Steve T).
A cold, dark night at Ushaw, no students around in Durham ‘til next weekend and the numbers were down on what we've come to expect for this most sumptuous of venues, with quite a few regulars missing and attendance hovering just under thirty.
No reflection on the band, Alice Grace is exactly the sort of thing the regulars soak up, a great singer with a swinging band, and a well thought out mix of classic, cult and contemporary.
Contemporary to open and an original, Lullaby on/of Broadway - is there really not a standard with this title? The lady seemed uncharacteristically nervous but settled in during the first of much scatting through the night, and little wonder, she's masterful (or is it mistressful?) at it.
This was followed by Windows by Corea/Grace, the Rodgers and Hammerstein of Transatlantic Jazz, and look out for a forthcoming recording of it, presumably part of an EP or an album. After a piano/ vocal intro there was some fabulous interaction between the two before she closed the number with some lovely adlibbing. In fact Gilly - does he mind if I call him Gilly? - proved an excellent foil for the singer on every piece and the show has almost become a double act, with bass and drums happy to stay back but never putting a finger or thumb, sticks, hands or feet wrong throughout.
Something called Invitation followed by Love Dance as interpreted by Streisand and surprisingly only a couple of takers when she asked if the audience were into Babs. Even I think she's a fantastic singer.
I'm beginning to see the Light closed the first set, featuring fours between scat and drums, and by now applause had risen to raucous, with cheering, yelps and whoops.
Set two opened with the first of two Kenny Wheeler originals, this one with lyrics by Norma Winstone and a duet between Alice and Gilly called Winter Sweet.
Alone Together found Russ playing toms with his hands and hi-hat and I've gushed about this in these pages before, switching it up with sticks for Gillys' solo and a first bass solo of the night, which was characteristically tasteful and welcome.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea next and a wager between me and my far better half whether she'd go Kylie or Steps. Stalemate as she went Ella, in hindsight unsurprisingly given her obvious scatting skills, and the piece ended with her exchanging scat with piano, then bass, then drums.
Before the next song she confessed to loving a bit of scatting cos we were all thinking she wasn't very good at remembering lyrics. The Gentle Rain to end before the compere asked for an encore and she gave us The Sky is There by Lars Johnson with lyrics by the lady herself. Hi-hat and walking bass-line behind the voice and Gilly’s entrance after a couple of verses propelled her into the greatest joyfulness I've ever heard from her voice.
I hope she makes a return to Ushaw when all the regulars are around and a few students and university types take it back to capacity; she deserves it and they deserve it.
Steve T.
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