Gypsy jazz and more at the Ginger Pig

Remi Harris Project at the Ginger Pig Cafe Bar, Worcester, 

Friday 11 November

The poster at Worcester's Ginger Pig described Remi Harris as an "up and coming guitarist" but he has surely already well and truly arrived. With appearances at the Montreal Jazz Festival and the BBC Proms and airplay on Jamie Cullum's Radio 2 show it's commendable that Remi still plays intimate local venues. Accompanied perfectly by his never-failing rhythm section of guitar and double bass, Remi was equally at home playing acoustic or electric and ranging effortlessly across gypsy swing, jazz and blues and everything in between. The set was breathtakingly varied. 'Over the Rainbow' wandered unexpectedly into Willy Wonka territory with 'Pure Imagination'. Other highlights of the evening were an exquisite version of the Beatles' 'In My Life' and a dazzling rendition of Tunisian oud player Dhafer Youssef's 'Odd Elegy', with its unfathomable time signatures.

As a proponent of gypsy jazz, you'd expect the spirit of Django Reinhardt to loom large at a Remi Harris gig, but less predictable was the summoning of the ghost of Jimi Hendrix.

Totally absorbed in his music, Remi almost forgot to mention that his second album, 'In on The 2', was available at the gig. Standout tracks from the new CD included the Wes Montgomery tune 'Bock to Bock' and Peter Green's 'Need Your Love So Bad'. Fond of quoting little snippets of tunes – even Chuck Berry makes a brief appearance – Remi is always tasteful with this technique and never labours the joke. It might be said this is jazz and blues for people who don't really like jazz or blues, but that might suggest it's in some way dumbed down. In fact, Remi's gift is that he's able to infuse the music with intelligence, warmth and wit making it accessible to the wide audience it deserves.