Gig review: Jerry Douglas Trio/The Scoville Units

Published on Monday 24 January 2011 19:21

JERRY DOUGLAS TRIO / THE SCOVILLE UNITS ABC, GLASGOW ****

ENGLISH sextet The Scoville Units, named for the measurement of chilli heat, originally formed for a one-off gig at last year's Celtic Connections. With a debut album out soon, they're continuing to carve their distinctive and fruitful niche between Celtic, bluegrass and string-band sounds. They are a string-band, essentially – including such luminaries as guitarist Ed Boyd, Leon Hunt on five-string banjo, and double bassist Miranda Sykes, plus mandolin, fiddle and percussion – but playing largely original material, full of varied cosmopolitan flavours. Equally adept at delicate prettiness and lusciously layered orchestration, lyrical balladry and romping exuberance, overall they're a somewhat sweeter and mellower proposition than their name might suggest.

Jerry Douglas can do pretty much anything with a dobro but what he chose to do on this occasion, in his new occasional power-trio with drummer Omar Hakim, and Lyle Lovett bassist Viktor Krauss, seemed rather to divide the assembled fans. In contrast to his roots-based repertoire, this was mostly heavily jazzy and improvised, though often waged at heavy-rock volume, with Douglas doubling between his signature instrument and an electric lap steel. It was an all-round magisterial performance, no question, and tempered by a few more melodious, bluegrassy numbers towards the end, but while some of the audience were in raptures, others clearly found it a bit relentless.