With two tenors on the stand and a group assembled just for the night's concert, last week's meeting of Harry Allen and Richie Buckley was, in effect, a high-calibre jam session with comparatively few rough edges.
The contiguous styles also helped: Allen is by Getz out of Ben Webster and clearly on the way to forging his own musical identity, while Buckley is one of those rare players who can sound individual whether in Getzian mode, as he was on the night, or moving into Coltrane and Joe Henderson territory, as he has done on other occasions. And the rhythm section - Myles Drennan (piano), Dave Fleming (bass) and John Wadham (drums) - quickly settled after a slightly uncertain start.
The circumstances also influenced the choice of material - all standards, with some jazz originals (such as Joe Henderson's Ricorda Mi) thrown in, and therefore familiar ground. If this meant no surprises, it was also the platform for some beautifully lyrical ballad playing, notably by tenors and piano on My Funny Valentine, where Buckley's oblique theme statement was especially thoughtful and effective.
On his own features, the ballads Polka Dots and Moonbeams and Nobody's Heart, Allen produced some of the best playing of the night; in this, he was clearly inspired by some sensitively apposite support and soloing by Drennan, but he also has a superb lyric gift, along with the taste and virtuoso technique to carry it wherever he wants to go.
There were good performances, too, on such as Ricorda Mi, Triste, I Remember You and Tenderly, but the ballads remained the pick of the material played.