King is now in his mid sixties but still has a bit of a spiv look about him that is probably comes about from years of playing with the best of big bands and small groups. There was no sign of old age in his playing last night, though, as his technical virtuosity was as good as ever. The opening cover of Chick Corea's 'Inner Space' was just one example of this.

Steve Melling's playing at times looked almost arrogant due to the control he achieves over the keyboard. The second tune they played was part of suite by Melling entitled 'Nipstone Rock'. This could be in Nicola Conte's repertoire of cool with walking bass and brush drum solo. Very now.

Steve tells me the group has been running in various guises and members for 12 years. Check out the links below for the latest album by The New Couriers, which contains a version of the next tune they played, the standard, 'Stella By Starlight'. This got a great reaction from the crowd. Melling "prods and echoes his partners tirelessly from the piano". It's a great technique.

The first set is finished off with a mad dash of Dave Leibman's 'Piccadilly Lilly' and Herbie Hancock's 'One Finger Snap'.

Tonight's show was meant to be the Steve Melling Eleven but in the interval, Steve explains to me that due to a withdrawal of funding from the Arts Council, the gig had to be cancelled. Hopefully it will reappear at a later date but this was to be the line-up to whet your appetite:

Pianist/Composer: Steve Melling
Saxes; Alan Barnes, Stan Sultzman, Andy Panayi and Nigel Hitchcock:
Brass: Martin Shaw, Mark Nightingale
French Horn: Gwliym Simock
Bass: Arnie Somogyi
Drums: Steve Keogh

Hectic has let the Arts Council know his feelings and is pursuing another public sponsor that might have a different agenda so watch this space.

Back to last night and Part Two keeps up the speed and the quality of the bop before the interval with another Corea composition. After this we get Mr. King featuring on Wayne Shorter's 'This Is For Albert' and then on a solo performance of Billy Strayhorn's 'Lush Life' -- which was just mesmerising.

A previously unreleased version of pianist Victor Feldman's 'Joshua' is on the new Miles Davis 7 CD Columbia set and this tune ends this evening's show. The Quartet gives it the full 100mph and the drums and bass do well to keep up with King and Melling. The climax is a drum roll solo exchange, which leaves the audience in shatters from the cauldron of Shiftless Shuffle Jazz bebop. Brit Jazz-Bop-Revival? It never went away.

Links
Peter King Quartet
Pete King Quartet (2002) : The Jazz Photography of Barry Quick
Steve Melling
The New Couriers "Azule Serap"
Inner Space
This Is For Albert
Arts Council England
Miles Davis: Seven Steps - The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1963-1964