Gig review: Lockerbie Jazz Festival

THE organisers of the fifth Lockerbie Jazz Festival certainly didn't have their troubles to seek. Late on Friday morning, just hours before the opening concert, they were told that the town hall had to be struck off the list of venues – owing to a dodgy steeple. In previous years, this would have meant finding an alternative venue for one or two evening concerts; in this special, fifth birthday year, it also meant relocating part, at least, of an ambitious birthday party involving several stages and a cast of 100 musicians.

That all-day event ended up in the local secondary school which, on Saturday, was transformed into a sort of temple of jazz, with several spaces successfully converted into venues for all sorts of groups, ranging from the reliably excellent Latin-tinged band Picante to the specially formed Commonwealth Jazz Explosion, which catered for those of a more contemporary bent. And it wasn't only proud parents who were drawn to the school's assembly hall for the Dumfries Youth Jazz Group's performance: it was difficult to resist their exciting collaboration with Canadian saxophonist Mike Ruby on Libertango and their unusual take on Duke Ellington's 1920s classic The Mooche.

Lockerbie has established itself as a festival which has a bit of every jazz genre in it, and seems to have a taste for musicians who aren't easily pigeonholed. Alan Barnes, the British saxophonist and clarinetist who is now an integral part of the Lockerbie programme, and Ken Peplowski, his similarly versatile American oppo, are two examples of musicians who are trusted by aficionados of mainstream jazz, but can be relied upon to push the boundaries.

On Saturday night, under what Peplowski aptly described as the "rotisserie chicken lights" at the Queen's Hotel (nice hotel; uncomfortable venue), he and Barnes – who are also both masters of the wisecrack – dished up another memorable Lockerbie concert. Barnes is a devotee of the great alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges and had brought with him a superb collection of arrangements of Hodges tunes for himself, Peplowski and the rest of the all-star septet to play. It was a treat to hear such rarely-performed numbers as Frisky, June's Jumpin' and First Klass brought back to life by the lyrical playing of Barnes, Peplowski and the great trombonist Roy Williams.

ALISON KERR