Gospel Blues – Pizza Express Holborn 14/10/2018

Crazy Sexy Coool’s Gospel Blues show has become a must see every other Sunday, the quality has now reached such a high level that it has now plateaued.

This week’s line up featured Daniel Thomas, Samantha-Antoinette Smith and Yolanda Greaves all of whom had performed at the same venue two nights earlier as half of the Powerhouse Choir.  They were joined on stage by Jason Thompson (keyboard and musical director), John Jackson (drums), Kenny Barry (guitar) and Chris Brown (Bass). Jason and John had also played with the Powerhouse Choir.

The group opened with ‘Oh Happy Day’ before the singers took turns in taking lead vocals. Samantha-Antoinette has one of the most powerful voices I’ve heard, for me her best vocal of the afternoon was on ‘St. James Infirmary’ a jazz song made famous by Louis Armstrong in the 1920’s. It did not move me as much as Samantha’s rendition of ‘Go Down Moses’ two weeks ago but it was still moving. Daniel was in great form and I was moved by his improvisation, especially when singing ‘Grandma’s Hands’ when he imagined what his Grandma would be saying to him as she looked down from above. I imagine he made her immensely proud. Yolanda, who was singing at Gospel Blues for the first time, excelled when closing the first set with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.

This was our fifth Gospel Blues show and the quality of the singers and musicians is first class, the music has become more Gospel and Blues over time. The audiences have grown and are now close to full. Daniel Thomas leads the show and his improvisation and the chemistry between him and the different singers are the factors that make an already great show even better. I don’t know how Ovie of Crazy Sexy Coool recruits the singers but he has found some fantastic vocalists, who rather than compete just feed off of each other. My wife and I will miss the next show but we will keep coming back in November and December.