Jaki Graham – Pizza Express Holborn 14/11/2019

Jaki Graham gave an outstanding performance and at the end received a thoroughly deserved standing ovation from her sell-out Pizza Express audience.

Although I remember Jaki Graham from the 1980’s, I would not have called myself a fan. I had not seen Jaki perform before, so my wife and I ventured to Holborn based on her reputation and those 80’s hits.

The opening song was Marks and Simons 1931 jazz standard ‘All of Me’, I feared that the show would be more of a jazz performance than a soul show, but soon these fears were allayed. After a witty introduction,  during which we were told that Jaki wanted her show to bring back old memories and create new memories, she sang her 80’s hit ‘Round and Round’ followed by the Al Green classic ‘Let’s Stay Together’. This set up an evening of witty introductions and stories, soul classics and the occasional hit single.

Jaki was accompanied by her musical director on piano and had no other musicians or singers. She has a very powerful voice which is very soulful. She told many stories including how she met Lamont Dozier, Freda Payne and Percy Sledge whilst she was touring with Sir Cliff Richard on his ‘Duets Tour’.

The soul classics included ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’, ‘For Once In My Life’, ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, ‘How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) and ‘Band Of Gold’. All delivered to such a high standard that they were as good as the originals.

The show ended fittingly with ‘Could It Be I’m Falling In Love ‘ (her biggest UK hit) followed by an encore of ‘Ain’t Nobody’ (her only US number 1 which remained at the top of the charts for five weeks).

Jaki succeeded in bringing back memories and created a new memory of a fantastic performance.  She is warm and charismatic and if she ever had to stop singing she could become a stand-up comedienne.

I would recommend her to any soul music lover. We will certainly go to see her perform again when the opportunity arises.

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