A Christmas-themed gig in the Gallery bar of the theatre, this trio setting provided the first opportunity for a local audience to hear the English singer/saxophonist AJ Brown, in the company of Belfast trumpeter Linley Hamilton and pianist Scott Flanigan, also from Belfast, touring this week. Battling difficult conditions on the roads coming down to Fermanagh after strong winds and heavy rain during the afternoon the trio were nonetheless in festive mood as they applied a lightly swinging touch to a selection of seasonal favourites. Flanigan, who at the weekend musically directed the successful John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman-themed concert ‘My One and Only Love′ at the Strand in Belfast, supplied the rhythmic motion necessary with no bassist or drummer present on a selection of familiar Christmas tunes that were shaped by the three musicians in an authentic jazz style. ‘Let it Snow’, and even ‘Jingle Bells’ later got the treatment, not forgetting ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’, and ‘Frosty the Snowman.’  

Brown, who’s originally from Halifax in Yorkshire, and will be appearing in the New Year as a guest of singer Ian Shaw at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in January, cut a dapper figure, dressed in a tuxedo, manages to inhabit the Mel Tormé sound world most instinctively, lightly crooning with a strong jazz sensibility. His Christmas charity single from last year, ‘Wrapped Up’, was the best of the Yuletide material. Hamilton took some interesting solos along the way, that Guy Barker-like swagger of his and instinctive harmonic sense a feature with little smears and asides decorating the instrumental sections, the sound man adding a little bit of reverb in the first half to top the effect. But it was in the lower more flugel-like parts of his register where he was able to show his control and artistry that he really made his mark, and his feature on ‘Amazing Grace’ was the highlight of the evening, an imaginative and very still lightly gospellised take on the famous melody. Flanigan’s romping left hand navigated early-jazz styles at times with some ease and you could hear little touches of stride along the way, although his style is mostly a modal Blue Note sound, occasionally drawing on the “locked hands” Shearing style in the quieter passages, a drawing together of sophisticated approaches that makes his playing so imaginative. SG