This was my first visit to the Jazz Club at Toulouse Lautrec in Newington Butts. The evening was hosted by its promoter Ovie of CrazySexyCoool Entertainment and featured three vocalists who each sang three songs per set and there were three sets.
My wife and I arrived about thirty minutes before the scheduled start and were warmly greeted by Ovie and his young niece who showed us to a table. There is a bar serving drinks and bar snacks which have a French theme in keeping with the restaurant. The prices were reasonable and the quality of the food was good. I am not a chip connoisseur but would certainly recommend them, the best I’ve had in a long time.
First up was Heidi Vogel an experienced jazz vocalist whose name was familiar but who I had never heard sing before. She has a great voice, a fabulous range and sang well, at times I felt she sang songs outside of her comfort zone and this showed. My favourite performance of hers was a Mahalia Jackson song, which perhaps shows my preference for gospel music over jazz. I am not a great lover of scat and did not enjoy her scatty interludes but they were well delivered.
Next up was Paris Raul. I had never heard of Paris but feel sure that I will hear of him again. He has an amazing range including a tremendous falsetto and sang a number of Soul and RnB classics, he was supremely confident and, for me, was the stand out performer of the night. I particularly liked his version of ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’ which is a huge compliment as I adore Bonnie Rait’s version. Paris spent much of the night on stage, when he was not up front he provided either percussive support or BV’s or both.
Finally came Holly Brewer. I had not heard of her but she looked familiar, has she been on TV? She had a really good voice but early in her set she sang ‘At Last’ which just four days earlier I had heard Sharleen Linton sing. Sharleen had connected so well with the song and with me and her version moved me deeply, Holly neither connected with the song or with me nearly as much a Sharleen. Of her nine songs four has been performed at the show where I heard Sharleen and all sounded better four days earlier. However had Holly sang different songs I may have formed a different opinion of her. She is young and hopefully will learn and grow with every performance.
The small venue was packed and the performances were well received. Adam Rust on piano and Francois Fasano on acoustic guitar played for all the singers and were highly competent. The show ran for over three hours and was very good value for money.
Unplugged will be on fortnightly and I will return but not regularly mainly due to work and other gig commitments.
Johns London Music Reviews 