The Margie Fullerton Quintet (18 September 2014)

The Margie Fullerton Quintet treated the enthusiastic audience to a nostalgic trip through some of the best standard tunes of yesteryear: Lester Leaps In, Moonglow, Night and Day, Indiana, The Shadow of Your Smile, What a Diff’rence a Day Makes, and the ubiquitous The Girl from Ipanema, to name just a few from the list of almost 30.

Band leader Margie Fullerton took very much a back seat position throughout the evening which is a great pity because I for one was looking forward to hearing more of her and what she can do jazz-wise with the music. Handing over the announcing to Brian Kille (tenor sax), Margie mainly occupied herself throughout the evening accompanying and feeding musical cues to other members of the band.

Vocalist Colleen Spillane was the standout performer on the night delivering her songs with near perfect form. I say ‘near perfect’ because I’m convinced the best is yet to come from Colleen. Her musical sense, pitch and enunciation (my big bugbear with vocalists) were perfection itself. At times I felt that the constant sax fills behind the vocal line detracted from the message Colleen was delivering.

Jazz solos were short – half or sometimes only one chorus. There were no in-depth explorations of melodic or harmonic possibilities on offer. It was what is known in the music business as a safe performance.

Drummer Ken Vatcher however lit up with an occasional display of technical virtuosity at various times much to the delight of the audience.

Special guest trombonist Paul Bonefin, despite his 85 years, demonstrated his innate musicality and professionalism. Trombone is a tough instrument at any age. 

All in all it was a pleasant evening once again at the Down South Jazz Club.

Hats off to Peter Robertson for organising such a varied program for our musical pleasure.
[Review by Paul Dion]