Outside it was freezing, but for those who braved the icy pavements the Imperial Hotel put on a warm welcome for the regular Jazz Lunch. It was a happy return to Tenby for Afternoon in Paris, fronted by the multi-talented Susanna Warren on clarinets and vocals, with Jeremy Young on lead guitar, Nick Kacal on double bass (cutting quite a figure in bowler hat and shades) and Paul Smith on drums.

They broke the ice on Sunday, December 11 with a spirited ‘God rest you merry, gentlemen’, Warren reaching the snowy depths on bass clarinet. It is an instrument with a superbly rich and fruity sound and she really gives it some welly.

The programme promised to transport us through the jazz clubs of 1930s Paris to the grand cafés of Europe and South America, but it was doing so in December so there was some debate on how many Christmas songs there should be. A show of hands suggested the more the merrier, and as Warren pointed out, there were songs she could only sing one month of the year.

So she made the most of ‘The Christmas Song’ (‘Chestnuts roasting on an open fire’) with beautifully understated guitar accompaniment from Jeremy Young before sneaking in ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Let it snow’ alongside Yiddish favourite ‘Bei Mir Bistu Shein’, twenties hit ‘Avalon’ and a whole lot more besides, with some enthusiastic audience participation on an unexpected version of ‘Sosban Fach’.

All four musicians were superb both in solo and ensemble (some would have paid just to hear Paul Smith’s drum solo), delivering a great programme with panache and humour.

Having checked that the audience were still listening with ‘I’m dreaming of a white bus pass’, Warren thanked organisers Chris and Kath Osborne for putting on the show, bringing some much needed winter cheer. As the words of ‘I got rhythm’ put it, who could ask for anything more?

The Jazz Lunches take a break while the Imperial is closed in January but return on February 12 with the Tommy Harris/Dick Hamer Quintet.