ARRIVING on stage with open arms, Stacey Kent invited her audience into an intimate circle of accomplished Jazz musicians ready to unfold a blanket of sound soft enough to sleep in.
And that’s really the idea where the vocalist is concerned: dreamy melodies glide from one solo to the next and merge with lyrics that roll off the tongue, helping to make the outside world disappear.
That didn’t stop her from playing the Trump card, saying “Thank goodness for poetry and music” before adding, “…and Hillary Clinton” in a well-timed moment of reflection savoured by the crowd.
Perhaps to take her mind off the current American standard, Ms Kent balanced classics such as People Will Say We’re In Love against borrowings from global legends such as French provocateur Serge Gainsbourg.
A smoky version of his Les Amours Perdues proved a highpoint, with the quartet of double bass, piano, drums and saxophone coming together delicately and leaving Stacey’s mastery of French to speak for itself.
Latin jazz also featured, the result of years of work with Brazilian heavyweight Roberto Menescal. But for all these worldly influences the response was an English one. Polite, appreciative applause and the occasional cheer were all too symptomatic of a performance that put suave understatement ahead of packing a real punch.
A standout display from drummer Josh Morrison reached its peak in the finale, setting off an explosive scattering of samba-infused rhythms that only foregrounded what the audience had missed out on during the rest of the night.
Review by Joel Down
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