Robson's original blend

Last night he fronted a meaty Anglo-US group with Dave Liebman, a tenor and soprano-sax heavyweight whose CV reaches all the way up to Miles Davis. With British bassist Aidan O'Donnell and expat US drummer Jeff Williams, they made impressive music.

Interpreting nimble originals (Three-Chord Trick, Screenwash, Hog Eyes) by Robson, Liebman's accuracy reflected serious rehearsal time.

The quartet also avoided the hackneyed circle-of-solos format, sub-dividing into conversational pairings during the course of a number. Even the standards sounded unusual. Dearly Beloved, for example, opened with Liebman's solo tenor, expostulating into sheets-of-sound frenzy. And when the melody finally arrived, it was wearing drastically doctored new chords.

Another US tenor-sax maestro and teacher, Jerry Bergonzi, likes setting himself this challenge, and Liebman rose to it with power, technique and imagination that Robson, blending his chords and single-string lines stylishly, did well to match.

A full house enjoyed it all and but for Willliams's drumkit, which sounded heavily over-miked, so would poor O'Donnell. The bassman might have been swinging but nobody could tell for sure.

Phil Robson And The Instant Message Service Quintet
The Vortex Jazz Club, Dalston Culture House
Gillett Street, Dalston, N16 8JH