He's a worthy talent but tends to spread a verse of ideas over a whole song, and as a consequence, there is lots to like on the new album, Candyfloss and Medicine (Blanco Y Negro) - or at least to appreciate - but little to love. The crusty dress has been replaced by spangly leggings and a pink top like a fluffy toilet- roll cover. The stage, too, had had a makeover, and was adorned with drawing- room furniture, plus fairy lights on every available surface - including, we were to discover, Reader's toilet-roll-cover top.However, as she hopped, skipped and jumped onto armchairs and off pouffes, all the diva-ish glamour seemed embarrassingly unsuitable. But it's less a case of Charlie Watts than of "Charlie, why?"Winning a Brit has done wonders for Eddi Reader.

On her last tour she was, if not an ugly duckling, certainly an awkward ostrich, but at the Empire on Thursday, she was more of a peacock. Where once were the trademark specs, there are now specks of glittery eyeshadow. After 30 years with the Stones, Watts must have enjoyed hitting the snare on beats of the bar other than the second and fourth, and compared with marrying schoolgirls or trying to be a movie star, playing in the Quintet is a harmless enough extra-curricular activity. I know it's only rock'n'roll, but try to learn to like it. If he doesn't have the technique for jazz, he certainly has the hots for it. His new album, Long Ago and Far Away (Virgin), can hardly be called new at all.

The songs are by Cole Porter, Louis Armstrong and the Gershwins, and on Tuesday Watts treated them so reverentially that you wondered if he wouldn't have been happier just putting on his favourite old 78s for us to hear. The Metropolitan Orchestra's arrangements had some prickly discordance, but Fowler was restrained and Watts dared not interrupt the flow by acknowledging the audience or by changing the pace from slow, sentimental ballads - let alone by inviting Ron Wood onstage to blast through "Satisfaction". The 347th richest person in the country, he has emerged as the best-loved member of the Rolling Stones, because he is the only one who has kept his dignity, and the same wife, through the decades. His reputation also benefits from a well-worn piece of pop mythology that says he doesn't belong in the band at all: he's a jazz drummer who sold his soul to rock'n'roll and has been after a refund ever since If nothing else, Tuesday's show refuted this old chestnut Don't give up the day job, Charlie.