It was as unexpected as it was fabulous. A tenor sax and a piano whispered sweetly to each other in the most intimate of conversations. Teasing each other with what was to come they each moved expertly but gently. They rested and rose, ooohed and aahed until they completely petered out. The audience would clap. They bowed and then, catching sight of each other, would start another conversation, similar yet entirely different.

The headliner for Charles Bascome's 12th annual Evening of Jazz was to be David Sanchez and his quartet but a family emergency with the bass player suddenly left Mr. Sanchez with no backup. It was a last minute decision which meant Gonzalo Rubalcaba in Florida had only two hours to get packed and to the airport, but he agreed and made it.

When the change was announced just prior to the performance, my date jumped out of his seat (albeit so very briefly) in total delight.

On Friday the evening started about ten minutes late and after a long opening set by the local Toni Bari Trio followed by a long intermission with open bar, many audience members were beginning to wane. After hearing Mr. Bari, pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba insisted the piano be tuned before his performance. While understandable it meant the concert was dragging into even later hours and the audience was getting more sleepy before the main act had even begun. This later resulted in a very distracting and off-putting - even bordering on outright rude - exodus by some members of the audience during the evening.

The two men had never played together but from the outset saxophonist Mr. Sanchez promised that it would be a performance from the heart. They kept it quiet and gentle, no big banging of the keys or blowing the house down. It was a true showcase of their skills. This was a performance for the jazz connoisseur. The classical training of Mr. Rubalcaba was clear as he fingered some of the most beautiful music out of his newly tuned instrument. And beautiful more in the way you would expect chamber music to be - poco allegretto.

Grammy nominated David Sanchez highlighted the softer more romantic and loving sound of the tenor sax. As he made his instrument coo to the piano he never tried to shout over her. Instead he sang sweetly in syncopated rhythms she picked up and moved forward with.

The cool classical sound was fresh and quite clearly the type of sound the artists wanted to evoke. On the programme David Sanchez said: "We're basically experimenting with forms to get out of the old patterns, out of the routine of the song format, unless of course, we're doing a standard. We're making our own forms and then going on, Travesia!"

My date and I would certainly urge them on that "going on" although we were completely entertained with where they've arrived.

CATHY STOVELL