Above image: Andrew Scott at the piano…
I’ve already waxed lyrical about the new Pocket Trio album Something Borrowed Something Blue in a review published in AJAZZ, the magazine of the Australian Jazz Museum. But I don’t feel I’m duplicating my thoughts in that review in applauding the trio’s performance at Camelot Lounge on February 12, 2026. A packed, apparently sold-out audience attended; Andrew Scott (piano), Max Alduca (double bass) and Tim Geldens (drums) confirmed their mastery as a jazz trio; and the four vocalists featured on their recent album performed brilliantly in a performance that more or less brought the house down. Such a triumphant evening deserves to be thoroughly documented, and I’ll do my best to summarise what took place at this unforgettable gig.
Shortly after 8 pm the trio commenced with the album’s sole instrumental Let’s Get Wet which, according to marketing blurb, apparently was inspired by Alduca’s “insatiable desire to go for unscheduled swims”. The rapturous applause which greeted this tune was a forerunner to the extraordinary warmth which the audience showed towards the performers throughout the next three hours.
Without further ado, the first vocalist Kate Wadey was introduced to sing the little-heard Richard Rodgers standard, Loads of Love. Similarly, she was greeted so warmly that she immediately had the audience eating out of her hand. Singing with her customary panache, she handled beautifully an arrangement which was in medium four tempo, with both an introduction and a cadenza where the band doubled the time. A very clever arrangement with an abrupt ending, which encouraged applause.
The trio’s approach here was typical in most of the vocals that were to follow throughout the night: the vocal first of course, then piano solo, bass solo, stop chords, possibly breaks with the drums, and return to the head of the tune – a tried and true formula maybe, but a well-trodden approach that was exceedingly familiar to the mainstream audience, and guaranteed to please.
Wadey then presented an unusual but very lovely number entitled Little Person, composed by the multi-talented American singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer Jon Brion. I’m told this tune became known through being featured in a widely celebrated film entitled Synecdoche, New York. Wadey then concluded her set with the original entitled In The Dead of Night which she and Scott put together on the basis of a common experience. Scott has explained: “Both Kate and I have young children who occasionally forget how to sleep”, resulting in “sleepless nights where busy and often negative thoughts scroll freely across the mind.”
Second vocalist off the rank was Tilly Street whose standard was again a little-heard tune, this time the Gershwin composition of 1931 Who Cares? I discovered by accident on the internet that this was Marilyn Monroe’s favourite tune, which makes sense – its theme is basically “it’s love that really matters”, not in my view a banal thought.
I cannot speak too highly of Street’s artistry. I feel that, while being surrounded by three superb singers on Something Borrowed Something Blue, she is still the true find on the album, at least for me. I cannot explain why I’d not heard of her before the album arrived for review. That has been my loss. At Camelot she performed with confidence and assurance, revealing herself to be a natural performer with the aura of experience. I now know that she’s not only a vocalist of the highest calibre, but an endearing performer as well, who unerringly brings the listener into her orbit.
The original that she and Scott put together, I Didn’t Do That Thing Today, is yet another intelligent composition, with interesting lyrics written by Street, apparently inspired by the Australian interviewer and author Madeleine Dore, who wrote a book entitled I didn’t Do The Thing Today. This book introduced a concept hitherto unknown to me, “productivity guilt”, and the Street lyrics perceptively explore its ramifications. If anyone wishes to know more about this phenomenon I warmly recommend buying the album.
Street’s final tune in her set was Poor Little Rich Girl, another little-heard number, written by Noel Coward as long ago as 1923 but which has apparently been recorded by umpteen artists over the years. I found a re-mixed version of this tune on the internet from Tony Bennett and Count Basie which sounded really good.
An unexpected delight was bringing Kate Wadey back to the stage to close the first set with Tilly Street, with the two vocalists singing together the Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler standard Get Happy, and Happy Days Are Here Again, probably best-known for the Barbra Streisand version. The rich sound of these two singers together I found very moving; it was the sort of sound which brings tears to the eyes. An exceedingly beautiful closing number which brought the first set to a close on a note of real triumph.
The second set opened with another instrumental; this time a very soft version of Over The Rainbow which was, by the way, one of the highlights of the Pocket Trio’s excellent debut album of August, 2021, All At Once. Then it was on to the vocalist Edo Santoni, who expressed an affinity with Sinatra, and illustrated it with Witchcraft, which was of course indelibly associated with that great singer. Santoni has in his armoury however a talent unknown to Sinatra – the art of scat singing, of which Santoni is a master. It was no surprise that he began with a wordless vocal, before he actually commenced the lyrics of the song.
Wearing my jazz critic hat, I felt that the lovely tonal quality in Santoni’s voice was, for some reason, not captured very well by the microphone he was using. In other words I felt that the mike he was using was not being kind to him. This problem was not so evident, however, in his great version of the extremely difficult number Goodbye Porkpie Hat. I applaud any singer brave enough to take on this work, which was laid down so beautifully by Joni Mitchell in 1979. Santoni was required to sing Mitchell’s vocalese lyrics written to John Handy’s saxophone solo in the great Charles Mingus version of 1959 on the album Mingus Ah Um. I congratulate Santoni for bringing this off so well.
The original penned by Scott and Santoni for the latter to sing, Let’s Take a Chance On Love, is an extremely attractive tune. Characterised by an ingenious arrangement rhythmically, it’s not surprising that many consider this the best tune on the album. It’s also a brilliant vehicle for Santoni’s considerable artistry as a scat singer. There’s a reason why this tune was chosen as the splendid opener to the Something Borrowed Something Blue album.
Last but certainly not least was the legendary singer Monica Trapaga who opened with the tune Big Fish Joe. I later discovered that this was recorded by Trapaga’s band Monica & The Moochers in 1991. That’s some 35 years ago, so it was a revelation to see Trapaga performing so beautifully, looking ravishing in what she described as a new “frock”, and showing what a great mover she is on stage, and palpably being a force of nature.
It was an absolute delight to hear Trapaga speaking to the audience at length, reminiscing about what has been an illustrious career so far. Her vast experience as an entertainer was to the fore. The term for her which came to mind later was “a great trouper”. I wasn’t sure if this rather old-fashioned term was entirely appropriate until I looked it up and found that a “trouper” is “a reliable, hardworking, and experienced person who perseveres through challenges without complaining, often associated with the phrase ‘the show must go on’.” Hmmm…. I’m happy with that for the moment, until I’m corrected.
Trapaga’s standard was another Gershwin tune Fascinating Rhythm which included a verse which I believe I’ve not heard before, then got going with an infectious Latin feel when the chorus commenced, soon converted to a swing feel. Another splendid arrangement of course which ended with some very hip figures, testifying once again to the thought which has gone into the clever arrangements which underlay all the music heard throughout the evening.
Trapaga’s coup de grace was the brilliant tune she and Scott penned called Inside Blues. This tune has so many memorable lines that it’s difficult to know where to start. The basic sentiment is “life is for livin’, so take your ass outside”, but I also warm to the line “hold someone’s hand, and not your phone”. Why do my two grown-up children spend so much time on their phones while in my company? I wonder. Inside Blues swung so much that many in the audience were impelled to clap along on the off-beat. By this time, the room was jumping.
Inside Blues appeared to be the closing number but, once again, there was an unexpected delight. The three other vocalists were brought back to the stage to join Trapaga for a rousing encore, whereupon the four vocalists sang an arrangement of three tunes which were sung more or less simultaneously: Sing Sing Sing; It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing); and 42nd Street. As in the Wadey/Street collaboration which closed the first set, the second set ended on a massive note of triumph to a standing ovation. I’d be surprised if the Camelot Lounge has experienced a more successful jazz concert in recent years.
My intuition is that the success of this impressive venture is down primarily to the hard work of Andrew Scott. He has put together a family of musicians and singers where love and respect are there for all to see, and he and his colleagues have assembled a highly original repertoire full of musical interest. He’s to be congratulated for avoiding the tired tunes from the Great American Songbook which might have characterised a less original repertoire. Not to mention the impressive national tour which he’s put together to promote the Something Borrowed Something Blue album.
I’ve been a fan of the Pocket Trio ever since I dragged my old friend the jazz writer Ian Muldoon on one of his rare visits to Sydney to Juniper’s Lounge in Redfern to hear the trio, which had then been playing every week in this venue for four years. I think this was in 2020 or maybe 2021. Ian, by the way, is also a fervent fan of the Pocket Trio. In his prolific reviews on my Australian jazz history website, he’s often warmly praised the trio. He described the music he heard at Junipers long ago as “an instance of the transcendent beauty of the finest of musics in a vibrant human setting.”
This performance took place at the Camelot Lounge, 19 Marrickville Road, Marrickville on Thursday February 12, 2026, featuring The Pocket Trio including Andrew Scott (piano), Max Alduca (double bass) and Tim Geldens (drums) with the four vocalists featured on the new album Something Borrowed Something Blue: Kate Wadey, Tilly Street, Edo Santoni and Monica Trapaga.
