Billie Jean

Taking Billie Jean somewhere it does not belong is the whole idea. The original is a rhythm record - that bass line and the drum pattern are the song, far more than the chords are - so a jazz arrangement has to find harmonic interest that simply is not in the source material.

What makes it work is that the bass figure is so recognisable that you can keep hold of it while everything above changes completely. The listener stays oriented, and you get to reharmonise the rest freely. Played at a dinner it usually takes people a verse or so to place it, which is exactly the effect we are after.

This has been in the trio’s book since 2014 and it still goes out most weeks in the season. It also demonstrates something worth knowing when you are booking: the trio’s repertoire is not standards. It is drawn from the same pop and soul catalogue as the full band, rearranged, which means the early part of your day can share a musical thread with the evening rather than sounding like two unrelated bookings.

The full band plays it too, in a far more direct arrangement built for a dancefloor rather than a dinner table. Same song, almost nothing in common.