Well....... Some of it was great - I really like the chord progressions in Charlie's tunes - but that's the music. As a performance, the pianist Alan Broadbent was awesome, soloing in 2 handed style as if composing a Bach 2-part invention on the fly. Classical meets Jazz improv with verve! Saxophonist Ernie Watts and drummer Rodney Green played admirably, both inspired soloist and very entertaining to watch.
The singers didn't add a lot in my opinion - in fact the opposite - although Charlie's new album is called Sophisticated Ladies the addition of 3 singers for 1 song each could well have been seen as token. Liane Carroll was probably the pick of the bunch but Ruth Cameron and Melody Gardot detracted from what was otherwise musically strong enough on its own. Have had better jazz concert experiences at the Barbican... MC
