The former burlesque bar that is Manchester’s Mint Lounge isn’t the most obvious place for a concert, and certainly not for one on the scale of jazz / folk legend Terry Callier. As the support acts – a couple of impressively lunged young local women accompanied by a solitary acoustic guitarist – go through their impressive paces, the venue slowly fills up, with the seated area in front of the satge giving an appropriately bohemian feel to proceedings.
From then on the evening takes a while to warm up. Oddly, as Callier and his backing band of venerable jazzers saunter on without ceremony there is no announcement and no applause. Callier shows little signs of his advancing age, except for his greying beard and the length of time it takes for him to gingerly settle onto his stool and adjust his microphone stand. Then, with a discreet nod, his guitarist hits some elegant jazz chords, Callier accompanies with some vocal noodlings and then as the audience finally wake up, he strums the gentle chords of Ordinary Joe. It takes time for the sound mix to cohere, and as the crowd begins to fill, the tables and chairs are slowly ousted as impatient standing bodies advance along the too-narrow room.
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Eventually things settle down to traditional gig atmosphere, with a now fully standing crowd nudging the front of the small stage. Correspondingly Callier’s performance grows in intensity, his effortlessly magnificent voice caressing newer but no less classic offerings like Jazz My Rhythm and Blues, Timepeace and Blues For Billie Holiday.
There are perhaps a few too many chin-stroking muso moments where John Thomson’s Fast Show host could be mentally conjured, smirking ‘nice!’ as individual soloing spirals on. Callier sits amid it all, smiling gently in wonderment.
But occasional jazz-bore moments aside, overall it is an inclusive performance, and by the time he closes with a bewitchingly hypnotic Lazarus Man the mood is one of electric awe. Callier is helped off the stage, looking on the point of collapse, drained by the emotion.
A night which was slow to ignite in a far from ideal venue, but one which culminated in exquisite triumph.
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