A fairly large crowd attended Sunday’s free jazz concert on the steps of Albright-Knox Art Gallery. The music was pleasant, the weather was fine, and the crowd was laid back. It was all good. Basically, that’s all you really need to know, but here are some details.

The gig featured a talented ad hoc quartet of musicians who seem to have joined into a working ensemble fairly easily. The vocalist and keyboard player — Patty Flaherty and Craig Kastelnik, respectively — are husband and wife, while drummer Dan Hull is the putative leader of the weekly jam sessions at Bobby McGee’s.

Guitarist Chuck Buffamonte, who performed with Hull decades ago, recently renewed his connection with the drummer by playing at those same sessions in addition to working with the Paul Briandi All Star Blues Band.

From a set list standpoint, there were plenty of standards like Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” and Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo,” in addition to pop tunes like Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason,” all of which fit easily into the free-flowing groove characterizing the group’s performance.

Flaherty’s warm alto enveloped lyrics, stretching out syllables in honeyed moments of translucency, her voice frequently playing on the brink of recognition and obscurity while singing and scatting with a pleasantly relaxed fluency. While she was a solid performer in the quicker paced tunes, it was in downtempo arrangements, like the one used for the aforementioned “Mood Indigo,” where Flaherty really displayed her mastery.

Kastelnik and Buffamonte filled up the bulk of the space between Flaherty’s vocal flights, each displaying a well-honed professionalism that enabled them to play off each other with relative ease while Hull provided a solid percussive backdrop to the proceedings.

Concert Review

Patty Flaherty and Craig Kastelnik

With Dan Hull. Sunday afternoon as part of The Buffalo News Jazz at the Albright-Knox series.