John Scofield and Jon Cleary, The David Sanborn Band and Jarrod Lawson, Sage Gateshead Jazz Festival

JAZZ pianist and vocalist, Jon Cleary and virtuoso guitarist John Scofield are both experts in their own right. Together their incredible talent is like rocket fuel with enough power to take you to the moon and back.

Cleary’s masterful playing uses every single note, straying into the precision end of white scale with a funky delicacy, while beating up the dark side of the piano to make a fistful of jazz straight from the New Orleans’ jazz heartlands. His voice is a complementary bonus

Scofield slides both hands around his guitar as if it’s badly connected to the power supply, his body trembling with a kind of spare electricity that seems to twist his face into a euphoric grimace. Scofield’s expertise is never in question, his guitar sings, dances and talks in every musical language.

Jump the interval and it's US jazz saxophonist David Sanborn and his five-piece band. The 70-year-old, who looks 50 - damn him, furnishes his heartfelt music with imploring notes and a confessional quality that makes the sax cry like a newborn. His set swerved from jazz to funk, supported by incredibly talented band members. Still breathless from the sheer excellence of Sanborn, I raced off to Hall 2 for the 10.30pm start of Jarrod Lawson’s performance. Lawson’s variety of jazz is softer, laden with harmonies and echoes of gospel, blues, soul and cafe society ensures that the venue is living up the promise of providing the best.

Helen Brown