Georgia Cécile: Live stream from 606 Club, EFG London Jazz Festival - Nov. 15

Georgia Cécile (vocals); Euan Stevenson (keyboards); Mario Caribé (double bass); Max Popp (drums).

Winner of Best Scottish Jazz Vocalist 2019, Georgia Cécile was all set to head south for her London Jazz Festival appearance at the 606 Club when Covid-19 restrictions dictated she would have to perform online from north of the border. The Lots Road, Chelsea, partner venue of LJF 2020 required viewers to sign up and make a modest payment to access the stream. That done, we awaited the eight o'clock start.

Ms Cécile took to the stage with her A-list band: pianist Euan Stevenson, bassist Mario Caribé, and Scottish-resident Chicagoan, drummer Max Popp. Against a backdrop of the 606 Club's banner, Glaswegian Cécile sang a selection of standards interspersed with several original compositions. Exactly Like You opened the set - expression, invention, superb jazz singing. Jule Styne contributed two songs to Cécile's set (Time After Time and I Fall in Love Too Easily) which also included You Turned the Tables on Me, three timeless numbers sung by a young, twenty first century star in the making. Ms Cécile's original compositions, notably Month of May and Bitter Sweet, offered contrast, if not comparison, to the GASbook numbers. 

Euan Stevenson is a first call pianist on the Scottish jazz scene and beyond, simultaneously an individual creative voice and accomplished old school accompanist. Mario Caribé, for many years an established bassist on the scene since leaving Brazil to study in Scotland and subsequently making the country his home, exuded sensitivity. Our vocalist couldn't have chosen a better bass player to work with. And then there is Max Popp, this evening resplendent in dickie bow-tie. At one point during her set Cécile rightly complimented her drummer for his beautiful brushwork. This LJF set of approximately seventy five minutes will have given invaluable global exposure to Ms Cécile. Her star is very much in the ascendant. 

Georgia Cécile has a new album in the works and hopes to tour throughout next year. Watch this space!  

Russell