Four great jazzers

The Bill Fleming Quartet, who played last Saturday in Brodick, delighted the audience with their subtle, inventive variations on a wide variety of jazz music. Each of the players was a master of virtuoso technique, but above and beyond that, they combined to make thoughtful, evocative music that stayed long in the mind.

In their hands, a chirpy little tune like Tea For Two developed a smart yet smoochy persuasiveness that was utterly beguiling. John Lowrie, in his first percussion solo, electrified the audience and it became evident that Paul Tracey, guitar, balanced perfectly with Bill Fleming’s saxophone, producing a front-line sound that was extraordinarily fluent and vocal, like a pair of singers. Just the Way You Look Tonight moved outward from the known tune to a series of conversational interactions that carried listeners into a kind of dream, full of possibility and excitement.

James Lindsay’s own composition called ‘Creel’ began with a seductive theme played with a bow on his double bass, and the beauty of this was picked up by the other players and developed into something so complex and lovely that many people wished they could hear it again. John Lowrie on drums was outstandingly creative, and took the theme into new, but always clear, complexities.

At the end, the audience went out into the rain seeming enchanted and astonished. Even those who admitted that they hadn’t expected to enjoy modern jazz were thrilled – a great treat on a wet January afternoon.