The first act was the Michele Drees Trio, who were accompanied by tap dancers Junior Laniyan and Jessica Murray. The versatile trio of drums, bass and piano were simply fantastic. The clicks from the tap dancing added flavour and soul to the music. The two dancers effortlessly taped away. They looked like they were having so much fun. We loved the energetic exuberance they exhibited and the originality of the two acts brought together. We noticed that Junior and Jessica maintained eye contact quite a bit, as they fed of each other. We loved “O pato”, a Brazilian tune about a duck and his bird mates sambaing by a lake. These acts together were crumble and custard. My only complaint was that it was not long enough.
 

A highlight of the first set was the beautiful Italian bossa, Bruno Martino's Estaté, which started with a lusciously delicate delivery from Manly, before evolving into a rather dirty little groove and foxy mama scat. Barry Green’s solo in This Masquerade continued the funky theme. Former Seal drummer, Michele Drees impressed with her tasty solo in You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To, and her duo with Gill to end the chart was utterly delicious.