Jazz Preview: Three contrasting styles promise week of song

The engaging Fletcher performs tonight at Wakefield Jazz, where she has been a popular visitor since being introduced to the Eastmoor Road regulars by Alan Barnes.

Tenor saxophonist Brandon Allen is in her group, and there will be songs from her new CD, Blue Afternoons.

Sherman brings the talent which has made her an endearing fixture of New York night life, to the convivial cellar at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, in Huddersfield, tomorrow, accompanied by guitarist Dave Cliff and bassist Andy Cleyndert.

A 14-year run at the Waldorf Astoria and a lengthy stint at the Algonquin's Oak Room, testify to the quality of a classy performer who

also plays the piano with subtlety and wit.

Manhattan visits Huddersfield: it should be an evening to treasure.

Wardell, who appears at Scarborough Jazz on Wednesday, Seven Jazz, in Leeds, on Thursday, and Sheffield Jazz on Friday, is a glowing example of an adventurous singer who sticks to her beliefs when it would be easier to adopt a less tortuous route through the minefield that is the jazz world.

She does not scat on every song but the urge to embark on wordless explorations is never far away.

"I treat myself as an instrument really," she says. "I always state the melody first and then reinvent it like a jazz horn player."

Robin Aspland, on piano, Jeremy Brown, on bass, and Steve Brown, on

drums, are her companions in often uncharted territory.