The ESB/Music Network Windows on Jazz tour continued with last Thursday's concert in Dublin which, unfortunately, was a disappointment. Despite the quality of the group - particularly the extraordinary talents of guitarist Stewart and pianist Beck, supported by Mark Hodgson (bass) and Stephen Keogh (drums) - an uneasy first set yielded few instances of sustained interest. Occasional increases in tempo, as on Some Day My Prince Will Come, taken in 4/ 4 rather than the more usual 3/4, and untidy eights between drums, guitar and piano on I Love You, for example, suggested this was a quartet which had still to gell.
They were not helped by an acoustic which made even the most restrained drumming sound loud, and a sound balance which frequently all but buried the bass. The better moments came in trio performances - Beck displaying his swing and harmonic panache on a blues, Isotope, and Stewart his gorgeous tone, dramatic use of contrasting registers on the theme and melodic sensitivity on Body and Soul.
Without ever reaching the heights this group is surely capable of, the second set was a considerable improvement on the first. Using mostly brushes, rather than sticks, Keogh was more effective, and an early trio with guitar, I Should Care, as well as a quartet excursion on Solar, revealed a better overall feel and sense of excitement than had been evident before; Solar, even with untidy exchanges towards the end, was among the more adventurous performances of the night. This was the second concert of a fortnight-long tour which, given the sheer quality of those involved, can only get better with each performance.