The repertoire included DjangoвЂ™s Tiger, Swing 48, Swing For Ninine, Minor Swing and Lulu Swing. Undeterred by the shenanigans in their midst, his brother on bass and Caswell-Jones on rhythm managed admirably to maintain the straight-man act. WhitworthвЂ™s irrepressible humour and wonderfully faux expressions of shock and determination upon each confrontation make me laugh even now. The duel lasted through the whole performance. The latter would recoil and then respond by bettering his performance even further. Alongside expert musicianship and instrumental dexterity, Thom Whitworth and Aitcheson managed to pull off a hilarious double act of one-upmanship involving the violinist leaning persistently into WhitworthвЂ™s personal space feigning to challenge the guitaristвЂ™s musical prowess. Their act proved to be one of the highlights of the festival. Saturday began with gypsy swing band Djanco featuring Andy Aitcheson on violin with siblings Thom Whitworth on lead guitar (sometimes mini trumpet), Rich Whitworth on bass and Robert Caswell-Jones on rhythm guitar. The concert afforded some splendid improvisational soloing from band members: of particular note were those from Byron Wallen on trumpet and Malcolm Earle-Smith on trombone in BillieвЂ™s Bounce and Zhenya StrigalevвЂ™s gripping solo on alto sax in Milestones. With something of a change from this biographical content he concluded the set with a lovely arrangement of EllingtonвЂ™s Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me with profound bass from Hodgson and ultra smooth brushwork from Mondesir.ДЇriday night ended with pianist and arranger Hans Koller and his 13-piece Bird Migration Big Band celebrating the centenary of Charlie Parker. Much of JosephвЂ™s engaging repertoire comprised musical portraits of people important in his life such as the composition for his mother who died in 2011, one for a friend killed in a gun crime and one concerning a reverend whoвЂ™d helped him with accommodation when he was a music student in Boston. Joseph of course is well known to many at Scarborough as Radio 3вЂ™s presenter of Jazz Lineup and J To Z but this was the first time heвЂ™d performed in his role as pianist here. Michael ArbenzвЂ™s arrangement of RavelвЂ™s Mouvement De Menuet and SulzmannвЂ™s Chu Chu named after Colombian bassist Chucho MerchГЎn were particularly well received.ДЄnother exceptionally fine trio followed with Julian Joseph on piano and the stellar rhythm section of Mark Hodgson on bass and Mark Mondesir on drums. The impressively cohesive Swiss trio, Vein вЂ“ brothers Michael and Florian Arbenz on piano and drums respectively and distinguished bassist Thomas Lahns вЂ“ took FridayвЂ™s early evening spot with Stan Sulzmann guesting on tenor sax. All their numbers were originals with MeierвЂ™s Princes Islands and OxleyвЂ™s Piece For Peace from the duoвЂ™s Colours Of Time album being especially enchanting. Several of the nine instruments used in the performance were fretless and they all sounded different. This was a master class in guitar playing. Two more guitar wizards came on next in the form of Pete Oxley and Nicolas Meier. Minor Mishap followed and to close, it was Epistrophy with the wonderfully expressive Youngs dazzling on drums. They opened with вЂ™Round Midnight and the set included Straight Street, Naima (after ColtraneвЂ™s first wife), Four In One (based on Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue), and a mash-up of Giant Steps and The Night Has A Thousand Eyes with added harmonies devised by saxophonist OвЂ™Higgins and guitar wizardry from Luft. This was the bandвЂ™s first outing after 18 months. Ross Stanley was at the Hammond organ and Rod Youngs on drums. The Dave OвЂ™Higgins & Rob Luft Quartet followed, with their take on Monk and Coltrane. Full marks to Pete Gavin who stepped in on bass вЂ“ youвЂ™d never have guessed this was a last-minute change as his delivery was so seamless. Jamil Sheriff was highly inventive on keys and Katie Patterson was dynamism itself on drums. Begley displayed a marvellously versatile voice and a commanding stage presence. With a performance inspired by plays and novels and reminiscent of sketches from avant-garde theatre at times, this band is refreshingly different. It was great to be back and a real pleasure to witness one of the strongest lineups to date at this superb coastal venue.ДЇriday began at lunchtime with RafeвЂ™s Dilemma вЂ“ introduced by vocalist Nel Begley as an electronic jazz and spoken word band. The 18th Scarborough Jazz Festival took place on a warm and sunny weekend from 24 to 26 September.

Cannonball sax