Jazz - Jo Caleb and Elisa

I ring up the Jazz Talent Music Agency trying to get hold of someone on their books, Jo Caleb, who is playing a concert at Anne of Cleves this weekend. “You’re speaking to him,” says the voice at the other end. All I know about Jo is that he plays the seven string guitar, which seems to me to be one more than I’m used to. “That’s it,” he says. “It basically has an extra bass string. This gives its sound more range, more dimension.” So you don’t need to hire a bassist? “Exactly. There are only three or four people who play the seven string in the UK. It’s more common in the States, where it was started up by a guy called George Van Elp in the 30’s”

“I’ll be playing alongside my wife, Elisa, who has an absolutely sensational voice, in the style of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holliday,” he says. “We’ll be doing a few original songs, and a number of old classics. But with a good deal of virtuosity.” Will they be improvising a lot, then? “Absolutely. We’ll be 100% improvising. Performing very much according to our emotions and feelings. Obviously we play a lot together, so we try to make it completely different every time. This makes every performance unique, keeps us fresh and cuts a completely new edge onto every song.” Jo comes highly recommended: a Guardian correspondent has written that he is ‘snapping at the heels of the UK jazz-guitar generation before him, like Mike Walker, Phil Robson and Mike Outram.’ The concert will be outside in the garden, weather permitting. AG