The young Lincolnshire-born vocalist Sue McCreeth may be just edging a toe on to the UK jazz circuit's first rung, but she arrived at the Pizza on the Park with anything but a beginner's selection of accompanists. McCreeth, a gently unconventional performer who echoes a little of Cassandra Wilson and Norma Winstone, was assisted at this gig by an excellent trio: pianist John Donaldson, bassist Andy Cleyndert and Guy Barker's drummer, Sebastiaan de Krom. They guaranteed a quietly compelling momentum in a variety of originals and standards.
McCreeth's strengths are a willingness to tackle familiar materials the hard way, a rich mid-register, and a knowledgeable fan's grasp of jazz evolution, though she still has some ground to cover in extending her technique to embrace the sounds she clearly hears in her head. At times the development of her variations clung to a pattern (straight theme delivery, extension into falsettos and deep purrs, payoffs on barely audible murmurs) and her announcements could have benefited from an edit or two, but McCreeth was calmly inventive on East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and boldly ambitious alongside guest Paul Nieman's trombone on Moondreams.
The former piece emphasised the drive of the rhythm section, unfolding over de Krom's deft brushwork and Cleyndert's booming walking pattern. A yearning McCreeth original, She Want Him, strongly hinted at a potentially bigger and bolder voice inside this singer. It also gave the underrated John Donaldson space for his distinctive take on contemporary jazz piano - a bit like McCoy Tyner with the volume and temperature turned down.
A mixture of McCreeth's and Cassandra Wilson's words to Blue in Green was deviously spliced into a demanding reshuffle and acceleration of the original dreamy melody, though the narrative impetus of the song seemed to peter out at the close.
You Go to My Head was delivered in a confessional whisper, with Donaldson's piano curling smoke rings around Cleyndert's liquid bass sounds. McCreeth sounded tentative, but she has imagination and heart, and is certainly keeping the right company.
