Currently, on a mini tour of East Anglia, the elegant Jo Harrop with the Chris Ingham Quartet stopped off at Hadleigh Jazz Club for two packed houses at the Town Hall. 

Riding on the crest of a wave, Jo is up for two 2023 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. She is a double nominee for 'Jazz Vocalist of the Year', and 'Jazz Album of the Year' for her collaboration with Paul Edis on When Winter Turns to Spring.

Superbly accompanied by Chris Ingham (piano), Harry Greene (tenor sax & guitar), Joe Pettitt (double bass) and George Double (drums) she treated club members to many self-penned compositions from her albums. These were interspersed with a range of standards, incorporating her personal 'twist' to them.

Following the Quartet's tone-setting instrumental opener, Hank Mobley's Soul Station, Jo introduced us to her 2021 album The Heart Wants. Her swingingly bluesy The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants gave us the first taste of the smoky dark toned resonance of her voice, which has also been described as having "sensuality and exquisite fragility" – and who am I to argue with that?

Jo Harrop in full voice (Picture: Graham Pattison)

The gentle Latin swing of Short Story displayed Jo's song-writing talent and allowed Harry to drift in and out with cool, but brief, Stan Getz-like lyrical accompaniments to embellish the number. For me, there's nothing better in jazz than to be reminded of seeing Getz in London in the 1960s.

On the blues-drenched Whisky or the Truth, the multi-talented Harry Greene – now displaying his Godin guitar technique - must have had many in the audience imagining that they had relocated to a Stateside Southern blues club, such was the intensity of his, and the band's, playing alongside Jo.

I like the playing of the gifted and hard-working Joe Pettitt, who always gives his all. He excelled in the introduction to What a Little Moonlight Can Do by playing the fastest and best piece of bass work I've witnessed in Hadleigh. Mirroring him, Jo demonstrated her versatility by showing that she's no scatting slouch. 

This contrasted with her soulful ballad Life Inside, allowing the industrious George Double to relax and demonstrate some delightfully subtle and shimmering percussion technique for this beautiful song – a delight.

Chris led the band in his customary relaxed manner, and on this occasion was content with letting Jo and Harry have their moments. Pleasingly, however, he occasionally interspersed numbers with the improvisational vignettes we know him for.

Following many more numbers, the finale to the show, Weather the Storm, was a fun encore singalong with Jo and the band. It was enthusiastically embraced by the audience for a vocally upbeat climax to go out into the night. Judging by Jo's performance, she should be well-placed to win the Vocalist of the Year award – we all wish her luck with it.

Joyful crowd went wild, Jo and the quartet responded (Picture: Graham Pattisson)

On the hottest day of the year so far, many enthused about yet another fantastic HJC night - the Latin, Blues and Soul vibes matching the balmy weather outside in the street. And occasional waltz-time tunes, like Charade, were thrown in for good measure. 

Grabbing a post-chat show with Jo, she told me how much she had enjoyed her first visit to Hadleigh and performing with the quartet at the Club. The enthusiastic audience reaction to her was also much appreciated.

Next up at HJC on Saturday 5th August is a Blues, Boogie and Swing Special featuring HJC favourite Derek Nash (sax), Phil Veacock (sax) and Denny Ilett (guitar). Tickets will be available from ticketsource.co.uk/hadleigh-jazz-club  

As there is always a strong demand for HJC tickets, keep up to date about future shows. Get advance information from the Club's promotor George Double by asking to be added to his mailing list via his website at georgedouble.com; by contacting him at [email protected]; or ☎️ 07941 360890.