Catriona Bourne @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth - May 26

© Ken Drew

Catriona Bourne (harp, flute); Francis Tulip (guitar); Sam Quintana (double bass, bass guitar); Steve Hanley (drums) 

Yamaha Music School is thriving. Classes galore, weekly concerts, Blyth town centre is on the up. This week's lunchtime concert featured Catriona Bourne. A little over 24 hours earlier, harpist Bourne was entertaining an attentive audience at the Northumberland Jazz Festival. Two gigs in two days with what could be described as her new 'up north' quartet, Bourne clearly relished working with responsive, attentive musicians, namely Leeds based Sam Quintana (bass) and Steve Hanley (drums).

© Ken Drew

Bourne and guitarist Francis Tulip would soon be heading south to their respective London homes, but first, to the final performance of the tour. Bourne informed the Blyth audience that the set list would follow the order of the tracks on her Triquetra album, bookended by two numbers from the standard repertoire for jazz harp.

Alice Coltrane's Blue Nile, performed in Blyth, who'd have thought it?! The audience loved it! And then to the album tracks - Triquetra for starters. As at Queen's Hall, Hexham, Bourne used several pedals, both conventional (as utilised on the classical concert stage) and effects (fx) for jazz performance. Francis Tulip used his pedalboard sparingly, his facility on his chosen instrument scarcely believable. And to think he's a local (County Durham) lad! 

© Ken Drew

Quintana and Hanley proved to be the 'go to' guys, their empathetic playing a delight, not least to Catriona Bourne. Forty five minutes on a Monday lunchtime makes for a tight, focused performance. Bourne suggested they might play one more, slightly exceeding the allotted time. No one was complaining , we weren't going anywhere. It came as no surprise to your reviewer that Dorothy Ashby's Games would conclude a most enjoyable programme. Marvellous. Russell 

                  

Set list: Blue Nile; Triquetra; Coronach; Sligachan Bridge; Rowan; Lannigan; Games.