The Ipswich Jazz & Blues Club's audience at Venue 16 were treated to a virtuoso performance by Derek Nash with the Chris Ingham Trio.

However, the show nearly didn't happen, because the advertised act was due to be the Derek Nash Organ Trio but, earlier in the day, organist Jim Watson called Hadleigh based drummer George Double to tell him he had contracted Covid.

So, following swift action by George, pianist Chris Ingham and bassist Simon Thorpe were recruited to fill the breach, and what a triumph it turned out to be.

Widely regarded as one of the country's leading saxophonists, Derek kicked off his set with a cool rendition of the classic Doris Day song Secret Love. Paul Desmond and Gerry Mulligan's arrangement of All the Things You Are followed with an intricate piano solo by Chris and a clever duet with Derek.

Any music associated with Paul Desmond is fine by me because his composing and playing of Take Five turned me on to 'Modern Jazz' at a tender age.

Composed by Derek, You've Got To Dig It To Dig It, You Dig? was inspired by Thelonious Monk's quotation and was played in an up-tempo Ramsey Lewis Trio funky manner. Next up, Winelight, an exemplar of Grover Washington Jr's smooth jazz style, was given the coolest and most elegant of treatments – a real delight.

Derek's setlist was endlessly varied and interesting, offering up Gene Ammons' Water Jug, Spike Lee film's soundtrack to Mo' Better Blues, and Neil Hefti's Li'l Darlin'.

And if all that wasn't enough, and to put the icing on the cake, for his final number he called Saltshaker's Adrian Day (harmonica) up on stage to join him on a rousing duet.

More on Saltshaker, below.

Derek Nash is an exuberant and exceptionally confident performer who totally grabs your attention when he's on stage or, off it; like when he recounted jazz stories and anecdotes to a small group of us before the show started.

On stage, his involvement was total, making all the introductions and relating yet more anecdotes. Directing the proceedings like an orchestral conductor, he was constantly exhorting and cajoling the talented trio to inspire them to ever greater levels of individual and collective performances.

Unusually, during the set, he employed all four main members of the saxophone family – soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone - giving variation and individually nuanced approaches to numbers. And, very unusually, during solo piano and bass spots by Chris and Simon he used 'shakers' to augment their performances – subtly effective.

The audience was treated to jazz at its finest with all four absolutely on top of their games; good enough to grace any stage in the country.

Opening the show, locally-based Saltshaker, an acoustic duo comprising Adrian Day (vocals and harmonica) and Andy Heasman (guitar and accompanying vocals), got the afternoon off to a bluesy start.

A talented 'harpist', Adrian treated the audience to a sustained exhibition of his spirited style. With the equally talented Andy, they performed a range of blues numbers, many of which had been gleaned from researching original tracks on old vinyl.

Saltshaker included numbers by Hank Williams, Jimmy Reed, Jimmie Rodgers, and other Southern bluesmen, as well as some of Andy's originals.

I particularly liked them, in part because they reminded me of my early introduction to, and appreciation of, authentic Mississippi Blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II who I saw perform in Colchester (of all places.)

In the light of what's happening in the world right now, appropriately, they rounded off their set with Bob Dylan's Everything Is Broken - a great choice from the pen of the man who seems to have come up with compositions to cover the entire soundtrack of life.

At its new location of Venue 16 in Tuddenham Road, Ipswich Jazz & Blues Club has got itself a fine new home.

Under the chairmanship of Stephen Foster, the well-known Suffolk broadcaster and music enthusiast, the club prides itself on supporting the local music scene, as well as bringing excellent UK and World jazz and blues acts to Ipswich.

Next up, on 10 April, the club is presenting one of the American blues greats, Alvin Youngblood Hart's Muscle Theory. At £15 for advance tickets, it's surely the biggest bargain in town.

Go to www.ipswichjazzandblues.uk for online ticket sales.