Georgia Mancio Quartet bring warmth on a cold Cambridge night

The performance from the Georgia Mancio Quartet at the Stapleford Granary in Cambridge supplied the warmth longed for on a cold winter night.  Consisting of Georgia Mancio on vocals, Gareth Lockrane on piano and flutes, Andy Cleyndert on double bass and Dave Ohm on drums, the set was all about giving the audience a collective sigh of relief with a succession of pleasing, but not necessarily challenging sounds, that cleansed the palate.  Many of the pieces were a series of compositional collaborations with New York based Alan Broadbent, and every one of these Mancio/Broadbent pieces was an example of jazz at its most tasteful, with brushes favoured over sticks for most of the performance, with fairly short, tonal solos, and a soft range of dynamics. 

Mancio’s vocals are crystal clear, and she gave the sort of performance that was mellow and contemplative, with no hint of pushing beyond her own technique. Occasionally however, the vocals were not forward enough in the sound, though that seemed to be due to a mixing desk issue rather than a performance straying into too much introspection. The set began with the deliciously satisfying ‘The Journey Home’ consisting of a broad and voluptuous tone on the bass and tasteful comping on the piano. The respective solos then laid down a template which might have been too predictable, except that Lockrane’s use of the flute and alto flute in later pieces added colour, and his representation of dark shades in ‘Winter Light’ gave a lovely depth and range of timbre. 

Range was added to with a couple of the Latin numbers - notably Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘All Of My Life’ - which explored more deeply the sonorous possibilities of this collection of musicians.  In this, Cleyndert’s bass solo simultaneously retained space and stimulation and the variations later in time signature added little hints of surprise. 

Surprise however was not really what this concert was about; comfort was the name of the game and supplied in generous quantities. Towards the end, the quartet’s interpretation of ‘I’ve grown accustomed to his face’ from ‘My Fair Lady’ both summed up the performance and the listeners’ reaction to the gig; some much needed musical balm for the ears and a soothing of the soul. It was hugely appreciated and well received by the ample and grateful audience.