A SMALL but appreciative crowd enjoyed the last in a short tour from acclaimed trio Quercus, led by the wonderful June Tabor and featuring the tenor sax of Iain Ballamy and piano of Huw Warren.

With more than a century of professional work behind them, it was no surprise that the body of work on offer flowed effortlessly with each complimenting the other throughout beginning with June’s a capella Brigg Fair and Warren and Ballamy entering the fray with Warren’s stunning Old Song New Song, Tabor and Warren have a history of musical collaboration going back 30 years and she is at home singing about war, love, unrequited or otherwise, and the countryside, living as she has done over the years in Oxfordshire, the Lake District and the Welsh Borders and most of those elements come together in the haunting Rufford Park Poachers.

Ballamy’s tenor sax mirrored Tabor’s flawless vocal with Warren moving in and out of the pieces with an unfussy ability to create subtle jazz harmonies alongside them both and the gig moved on with Tabor exiting to allow her colleagues to showcase their own instruments with Ballamy having fun with an almost freeform piece Strawberries and Warren’s jazzy number, simply named Pig.

Almost as if to prove their versatility the trio gave up a version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright alongside Robert Burns’ classic Lassie Lie Near Me with Tabor’s voice giving a selection of floating verses” from traditional songs set to Ballamy’s tenor based tune in Near But Far Away.

As the band relaxed further into the evening and with the crowd behind them Great War composer George Butterworth’s setting of A E Housman’s The Lads In Their Hundreds proved to be one of the highlights, as did As I Roved Out, a Andy Irvine tune Tabor announced would definitely be in her Desert Island Discs collection.

Ballamy’s smoky tenor sax and Warren’s compassionate keywork on a joyous and moving All I Ask Of You from Phantom of the Opera ended the evening and the tour as the trio now go their separate ways before reuniting in the autumn.