Shane Forbes Quintet shine new light on Blossom Dearie’s legacy at the 606

Shane Forbes first explored the music of Blossom Dearie at last year’s EFG London Jazz Festival. And if that wasn’t enough of a treat, Forbes, with a rather different line up, has extended his voyage of discovery by embracing the songs of Shirley Horn. The 606 is the perfect venue for such a gig. Intimate, welcoming, but never pretentious, it’s a club that musicians and audiences alike love to visit: you can imagine Horn or Dearie themselves holding an audience in thrall here. The tone was set immediately by the opening ‘They Say It’s Spring’. Forbes has a lush swing that perfectly complements such come hither material, and indeed the quieter he plays the more it clarifies the precision and diamond detail of his playing.

He also sets up Alec Harper’s horn perfectly; sometimes so hushed you can hear the pads tap, but always robust and certainly not sentimental, sometimes the focus of the whole evening circled in on the shine of the sax’s bell. With Joe Webb indisposed, Will Barry took to the keys with ease, he has after all played with Forbes for years, especially in Forbes’ boppish trio. Meanwhile supple guitarist David Archer had his moments in the spotlight, closing the first set with the bluesy ‘The Party’s Over’.

But the party’s never really over with this band, especially given the propulsion provided by Tom Farmer’s bass. Farmer and Forbes have been so joined at the hip over the decades it’s hard to imagine one without the other, and when Farmer stepped up for his glow in the dark solo on ‘Manhattan’, time stood still.

There are some songs, like ‘Manhattan’, which Dearie so favoured, that somehow need the salt of the occasional clattered plate, of a knife scraping, of a whispered tryst at a shaded table, of a hand reaching out to another in the candlelight, of chocolate gateau being spooned to a lover. And in the semi dark of the club, such songs will always remain alive, sharp, and subtle. And you know when Esther, so much more than ‘bar’ or ‘waiting staff’, sighs mid-solo, or sing-whispers a bar or so to herself, you know the heritage of Horn and Dearie is in good hands with Forbes and his crew.