VENUES play an important part in music. It's possible for a solo singer to captivate a stadium full of music lovers, but they have to be pretty special to do it. Similarly, it would be hard to imagine trying to fit U2 or Pink Floyd into a small pub.
A nice little jazz bar would have been the ideal venue for the Rosy Blue Jazz Trio, not the cavern they found themselves in during the Leith Festival yesterday, but like all great performers, they didn't let it put them off.
Scooting through a quick version of Stone Fox Chase, better known as the theme from the Old Grey Whistle Test, Rosie Nimmo's fabulous voice delicately caressed Nina Simone's My Baby Just Cares For Me to get things started in classy style.
Let's Fall In Love and I've Got You Under My Skin kept the sophistication going, before they revealed their versatility with Les Feuilles Mortes, the original French version of Autumn Leaves.
Just to show how surprising and eclectic they can be, they then slipped into a cheeky but delightful jazz version of Thin Lizzy's immortal rocker, The Boys Are Back In Town. Guitarist Stuart Allardyce and upright bassist Owen MacDonald took a very fine solo each during All Of Me.
Nimmo got the chance to let her harmonica skills fly during Little Red Rooster.
The whole show swung and rocked beautifully, in part because of the great sound they managed to pluck from the venue, but it was also down to their choice of material. Two of the brightest highlights were My Funny Valentine, a song surely made for Nimmo's remarkable voice, and John Lee Hooker's primal blues, Boom Boom which smouldered from the band's small speakers. The guitar solo alone would have been worth a high price of admission.
Proving that anything can be jazzed up, they finished their first show of the day with a very smooth version of The Undertones Teenage Kicks.
Eclectic and polished, they also proved that you don't need a drummer to swing, or a small club to be intimate – as long as you have as much talent as they clearly do.
