Recently relocated from London to Edinburgh, Scottish drummer Caroline Scott assembled an impressive quartet for her first show at Edinburgh’s Jazz Bar: she was joined by Fergus McCreadie on piano, Matt Carmichael on tenor and Ali Watson on bass, three musicians who know each others’ work intimately. Rather than opening windows onto each of the players’ own repertoire, this was an opportunity to hear how, individually and collectively, they would approach standards
Scott’s drumming was excellent, pushing with an infectious swing on the harder bop numbers – she spent two years on the scene in Boston – more laid back with brushes on the gentler pieces.
There wasn’t a set list, the band picking tunes quickly between numbers. Scott pointed out that the priority was to keep things fresh and improvised, and so it proved. These standards were safe in such accomplished, capable hands. They even took a couple of requests from the audience – a full house – which led to an excellent version of Monk’s Well You Needn’t which featured a suitably jagged sax solo. The crowd loved it.
The quartet brought life to even that most over-played of tunes, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. Carmichael played a beautiful solo over almost abstract trills from McCreadie and repetitive patterns from Watson. Lerner and Loewe’s Almost Like Being In Love featured another storming sax solo.
Photo credit Patrick Hadfield
The second set featured another Monk tune, I Mean You, which again set the bar high. Charlie Parker’s Anthropology was taken at a cracking pace, and full of life. Their take on Emily was warmly romantic.
It was a pleasure to hear such familiar tunes so effectively brought to life, indeed it was fascinating to hear McCreadie, Carmichael and Watson tackle material so different from their more regular repertoire. Scott’s infectious sense of swing brought much to the party, too – she’s bound to be a welcome addition to the lively Scottish scene.
