JATLP: Dean Stockdale's Celebrating Oscar Quartet - July 22

Dean Stockdale (piano); Bim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (bass); Gaz Hughes (drums).

A glance at the personnel listed above may suggest that this was a gig at the Railway in Stockport as all four musicians are frequently mentioned in despatches by our way out west correspondent Mike Farmer. However, the grand piano and the old masters adorning the walls of this historic building soon squashed that thought.

Dean Stockdale is, of course, a familiar and well-respected pianist north, south, east and west of The Pennines - in fact the previous night he'd been gigging in Torquay - and his reputation as an authority and indeed an exponent of the music of Oscar Peterson is written in stone. All that is missing is the Canadian accent and the occasional grunt when his solo peaks.

Bim Williams, needless to say, has had the thumbs up from Mike since he first heard him and, let me tell you, he called it right - a revelation.

Gavin Barras impressed on bass. Despite being unamplified, the sound came across beautifully and I can understand the high regard with which he is held in 'over there'.

Gaz Hughes is perhaps better known to BSH readers via CD reviews and a tremendous Art Blakey Sextet tribute at Gosforth Civic back in the day when you didn't become a social pariah if you sneezed. He's a drummer who, even when he's soloing, doesn't forget the tune that he's actually playing.

It's difficult to conceive that the quartet hadn't played the material prior to this afternoon. The international language of jazz  prevailed: a nod, a wink, a shake of the head, a raised eyebrow etc to augment the charts was enough - they even managed to, at least temporarily, suspend my dislike of fours!

These JATLP sessions rarely deliver anything less than excellence and today topped just about everything that had preceded it. I feel sad for the squares who weren't there - Lance

Blues Etude; Noreen's Nocturne; Nigerian Marketplace; Bossa Beguine; Blues of the Prairie; Wheatland; C Jam Blues; Hymn to Freedom; Night Train.