If it’s a string quartet, you’re not supposed to clap in between movements. And you’re expected to be clued-up enough to know how many movements there are so you can tell if it’s the final one. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York they always clap too soon, and in Italian opera houses they clap after an aria, and go on clapping until the poor soloist does it all over again. But in jazz you clap after the solo (if you liked it). That also gives a bit of cover for the player doing the next solo in case he doesn’t time his entry quite right. At the concert on the 12th of September, SASRA once again ventured outside their usual range of classical music with the David Black Jazz Quintet, and the audience showed their appreciation in the proper jazz manner. From the first notes from the double bass, played by Paul Morgan, I could tell this was going to be good. They started with the fast and furious Perdido, with Dave Black on tenor interacting with Gabriel Garrick on trumpet. After that, All the Things You Are was mellow, but with complex rhythms led by the bass. The Ellington classic On Green Dolphin Street gave Brian Costello an opportunity for a drum solo, and I wondered whether the floor of the stage would hold up. Dave switched from tenor to flute for a beautiful performance of The Girl form Ipenema, made famous by singer Astrid Gilberto.

After the break we had What is This Thing Called Love? with Jami Sheriff singing away to himself on the piano. Chic Corea’s Spain was more modern, chunky rhythms, at times verging on Ornette Coleman style free jazz, and at the end Paul Morgan played the bass with a bow to satisfy the classical music people in the audience. Fly Me to the Moon was slow and moody, reminding me of a last waltz in an echoing dance hall somewhere long ago with a girl whose name I can no longer remember.

I’m very pleased that SASRA have made another contribution to breaking down the barriers that, for too long, have existed between different styles of music. I suppose there will always be those who find it hard to go outside their familiar genres, whether it be early music, string quartets, trad, bebop, or the full seventeen hours of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. But if live music is to survive, we all need to spend a little time exploring something unfamiliar. The SASRA audience, a mixture of regular concert goers and those who came specifically for the jazz, certainly appreciated the impressive skill and drive of the Dave Black Quintet. Let’s hope we see them all at the next concert, the biggest orchestra you are likely to find south of Carlisle, on the 10th of October in the Market Hall when The London Mozart Players have a programme of Haydn, Elgar Vaughan Williams, and of course Mozart. Just remember not to clap after the solos!