Yolanda Brown – Hideaway Streatham 16/02/2019

Yolanda Brown gave another brilliant performance on the second of two sell-out Hideaway concerts.
I grew up in an era when it was not unusual for instrumentals to top the UK charts thanks to The Tornados ‘Telstar’ and The Shadows ‘Apache’, ‘Kontiki’ and ‘Dance On’. In my time, I had not seen many non-classical instrumental concerts until I found Yolanda Brown and her brilliant sax playing with a mix of Jazz, Reggae and Soul.
This was the eleventh time my wife and I have watched Yolanda and the third time in five months. Her performances get better and better. This concert featured many tunes from her outstanding ‘Love, Politics, War’ album. She had the support of her excellent musicians creating beautiful ‘Posh Reggae’, the genre that Yolanda has created to describe her music. Yolanda’s skilful sax playing and her charismatic personality make her performances compelling, and easy on both ear and eye.
Although each of the last three concerts has been branded under the ’10th Anniversary Tour’ banner, the set lists have not been the same. Some tunes have featured in all three (e.g. ‘Confusion’) but many have not and some of the tunes have included different improvisations in different nights. Yolanda does not hog the limelight, she gives her musicians opportunities to showcase their talents and the collective seen totally at ease as a unit.
Yolanda is fast becoming a CBeeBies television star thanks to YolanDa’s Band Jam which is inspiring children and parents alike, this will surely swell her fast growing fan base. It has been great watching Yolanda development and hopefully this will continue.
All music lovers should watch Yolanda perform.