Claire Kelly
(vocals); Mark Williams (guitar); John Pope (bass)
(Review by Ann Alex/Photo courtesy of Emily Adam)
From the opening song, No Moon At All, I was struck by the
rich tone of Claire’s voice which was a sheer joy to listen to. Ms Kelly has
been away singing in Thailand for quite a while, doing soul and reggae almost
every evening, and the experience seems to have enhanced her voice (mind it was
good before she went). Add to that the
superb guitar of Williams and Pope’s adventurous bass providing long solos, and
you have a great night of jazz. I just
wish the audience had been more numerous, but there were many other musical
events last night such as the Americana Festival at the Sage.
And so the songs continued, sung
with feeling and real style, Beautiful
Love, with a bass opening; Born To Be
Blue; I Cried For You. Everybody Wants To Be A Cat was slinky, with voice
and bass only and lots of high notes from the bass, even on the ‘wrong’ side of
the bridge. The first half was rounded
off with a quiet, sensitive Mr Ugly a
homage to Carmen McRae. The second half gave us songs such as a happy blues, The Blues Are Out Of Town; Song For You;
Taking A Chance On Love;
I Concentrate On You; At Long Last Love. The final song was a tour de force with
alterative titles, Unlucky Woman or Go Wild, sung with passion, and a long
solo from Mark full of insistent riffs and bent notes, great listening.
Claire is leaving the country
again in about 6 weeks, so you’d better catch her at Durham on August 6 before
she goes, otherwise you’ll miss a treat.
Ann Alex.
(Durham date now corrected - see comment)
(Durham date now corrected - see comment)
Just a correction! The Claire Kelly Trio will be the next "Jazz Session" at Empty Shop HQ in Durham on Thursday August 6th (not 7th as stated in review)
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