THE last of this season’s concerts arranged by Wesley Chapel was given by the Richard Wetherall Jazz Trio.

Pianist Richard Wetherall plays fluently with obvious technical expertise and also improvises with skill and imagination. The other members of his Trio are bassist Pete Turner and percussionist Errol Roberts.

They began with George Gershwin’s, A Foggy Day in which the close voicing of the opening slowly developed into a swing band. Jules Styne’s, Make Someone Happy followed.

Then, arrangements of a selection of pieces by Jazz piano legends. They included Fats Waller’s Two Sleepy People, Oscar Peterson’s classic, Hymn of Freedom and Duke Ellington’s, Perdita. Each had improvised solo sections in which the instrumentalists excelled individually.

A change of pace with a samba by Juan Garcia-Herreras, Del Siego. It preceeded Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz, You and the night and the music, a highlight of the programme with Richard Wetherall’s choice of voicing and his high speed improvisatory sections.

The finale, a subtle arrangement of Sammy Cahn and Jules Styne’s song, Time after Time showed the trio’s balanced ensemble.

The next set of concerts by world-reowned pianists begins in October with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

Dr Mary Perrin