Who would have thought, on a bitterly cold January night, that Grassington Town Hall would be full of warmth and merriment. Why was that? Enter Ellie Gill and her eponymous band for a few hours of great music.

The Ellie Gill Band has been doing the rounds of Yorkshire for the past couple of years, including being the supporting act for Clare Teal at Glusburn Fallfest. The music is a jazz-flavoured mix of well-known covers and songs written by Ellie Gill, the band’s vocalist, and Kate Isaac, keyboards and musical director.

The line up is vocals, keyboards, drums, bass, saxophone, clarinet and flute, plus guest guitarist John “fingers” Watson on lead and rhythm. The band’s material features great instrumental work from the saxophone family, including a soulful rendition of Phil Collins’s Against All Odds, expertly delivered via the alto saxophone of Arthur Phillips.

Lead vocalist Ellie has the kind of voice other singers will envy – sweet and powerful at the same time. Clearly at home with a good ballad, Ellie’s new song Heartbreak was delivered live for the first time, along with other numbers from her album Eye to Eye.

Flick Chilton on vocals, saxophones and clarinet is a rising young talent and performed a great version of Caro Emerald’s That Man to the delight of the audience. In the engine room throughout were more Phillips brothers – Oscar on bass guitar and Will on percussion. It was a shame not to have heard more of Oscar’s six-string bass and a solo would have been good. You can hear a combination of Ginger Baker and Buddy Rich in Will’s solos, if not in volume certainly in flair and complexity.

Songs from Kate Isaac’s pen worked well in the set, particularly Step Out With Me Tonight and a swingy celebration of female beauty in Plain Old Me.

In Grassington the Ellie Gill Band did what it is good at – played great music and got the audience involved from the get-go.

Chris Chilton