Scotland's leading Gypsy Jazz band features Seonaid Aitken on fiddle and vocals, Conor Smith on lead guitar, rhythm guitarist (and occasional singer) Tam Gallagher, and Jimmy Moon on upright bass. Not a tribute act, but a loving evocation of the era and music made famous by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli. They played numbers from the canon, their own versions of other jazz standards, and the odd modern composition.
Aitken has a sweet voice, perfectly suited to the crooning style, and if she doesn't quite match Grapelli (but who does?) she does a mighty fine job of trying. Plenty of imagination in her phrasing, and technical excellence. the arrangements are clever too. Smith is more than her match, with a lovely touch and inventive style. Their duet sections were a delight.
Gallagher got up for one song, a joyously rendered version of Everybody Wants to be a Cat, from Disney's Aristocats. That got the audience involved! And while Seonaid did pretty much all the talking, introductions and jokes, Tam had his sort, relating the tale of how the band came about, but without the modesty that Aitken had been using to cover up the real story. Tam had wanted her as a violinist, and the discovery of how good her vocals were was a huge bonus _so that the money could be split four ways rather than five!
A wonderful ninety minutes that got a deserved standing ovation.
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