The Music of Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald show at Hideaway played to a sold out audience who all seemed to appreciate the fine musicianship and vocals on Saturday night.

I confess that I grew up in ignorance of the music of both Sarah and Ella, vaguely remembering only Sarah Vaughan’s duet with Billy Eckstein ‘Passing Strangers’ which was a top 40 hit in the 60’s. However as my interest in pre 60’s music has gown (in the last few years), I have become more aware of both of these ladies place in musical history.

What drew me to Hideaway on Saturday was the presence of Janette Mason who has been musical director and played piano at a number of outstanding Hideaway shows and of Vimala Rowe whose fantastic vocals were a stand out in Alex Webb’s ‘Café Society Swing’.  Juliet Roberts came with an outstanding reputation and I was intrigued to see just how good she was.

I was not familiar with many of the songs, even less so with their titles, however I enjoyed the evening.  There were two sets, the first lasted about an hour and the second an hour and a quarter. Each vocalist sang solo for half the set, joining for one or two duets. Both Juliet and Vimala were outstanding vocalists. Juliet showed her sense of humour and kept the audience on their toes, pouncing on one unsuspecting audience member who was filming one of the songs and getting the audience to join in on one of her songs.

The band consisting of Janette Mason on piano and a drummer, bass player, sax player and trumpeter were excellent. The whole experience was very enjoyable.

I will not be rushing to listen to Ella and Sarah’s catalogues but would certainly attend any show featuring Janette, Vimala or Juliet.

The Gospel Blues show has become the event to attend for anybody who loves good music. Yesterday’s show surpassed the standard set at the previous show and sent the audience home with smiles on their faces and a warm glow in their hearts.

Yesterday’s singers were Daniel Thomas, Sharleen Linton and Samantha Smith. The show started well with a strong rendition of ‘Lovely Day’ featuring all three singers. However none of us were prepared for what happened next. Samantha Smith took the mike to sing ‘Go Down Moses’ a song that Daniel has sung very well at the last two shows. Samantha’s vocal was amazing, she transported us to the US, we were all in the the chain gang laying the railroad tracks in the Deep South. The whole room was entranced by the quality of the vocal and the raw emotion in her voice. In baseball terms she knocked the ball so far out of the park that it would end up in a different state. Daniel and Sharleen showed their appreciation of the quality of the performance and then responded with breath-taking performances of their own.

Sharleen had moved me four weeks earlier with a stunning rendition of ‘At Last’ and she matched it with an equally stunning interpretation of ‘A Change is Gonna Come’, Daniel moved us all with his version of ‘Grandma’s Hands’ and Daniel and Sharleen duetted so well on ‘Aint No Mountain High Enough’ that it reminded me of Marvyn Gaye and Tammi Terrell in their pomp. Samantha was not finished either, she gave us a stunning version of ‘God Bless the Child’ and another spiritual made famous by Mahalia Jackson.

Daniel together with Wayne Hernandez and Beverley Skeete had combined two weeks earlier to give us some great entertainment but this show was even better as the singers just fed off of each other’s energy and pure vocal brilliance. Throughout they were supported by the brilliant band of Jason Thompson, John Jackson, Clint Williams and Kenny Barry.

The show in on October 14th, I hear, will feature Daniel, Samantha and a third vocalist, if you enjoy Gospel and Blue you must be there, in fact if you enjoy music it is a must attend event.

Jocelyn Brown was given a standing ovation by a sell out Hideaway audience after two hour long sets. Her knees may be weak but her voice remains powerful, still one of the best in the music business.

Both sets began with instrumentals from Jocelyn’s band. She then took to the stage, singing a number of well known songs with three of her own compositions. All her interpretations of classic songs had a jazz feel. She started with Stevie Wonder’s ‘ For Once in My Life’, then moved on to Cole Porter’s ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye. Most of the time the audience listened intently, only joining in when Jocelyn sang ‘Killing Me Softly’ and her own iconic song ‘Somebody else’s guy’s. The songs were punctuated with a few anecdotes of learning to sing harmonies with her Mum and Aunt, singing with her sister and recording and being advised by John Lennon.

This was an enjoyable night celebrating the talent of a special woman. My personal favourite moment was her version of Rogers and Hart’s ‘My Funny Valentine’ which is the only of her covers I do not associate with other artist’s versions.

Harry Chapin was one of the great concert performers /  story tellers of his generation. The Venue was in Victoria Street and had a cabaret type layout with tables and waiter service. This gig was hastily arranged because Harry’s other London date was sold out and started at 11:00 p.m. His tour was promoting the album ‘Sequel’ which was one of his finest albums.

I have no recollection of the set list, Harry like Bruce Springsteen made up the set list as the show progressed and all I remember is that across the two London dates very few songs were sung twice. These were the last two London dates Harry ever played as he died five months later on July 16th in a car accident.

Harry’s concerts were journeys. His songs were stories and many lasted over 5 minutes. He played acoustic guitar and his band usually had Doug Walker on guitar, John Wallace on bass, Howie Fields on drums, Yvonne Cable on Cello and brother Steve Chapin on keyboard. John Wallace sang BV’s and his baritone came to the fore in one of Harry’s greatest songs ‘Mr. Tanner’

This show lasted two hours and Harry then rushed to the foyer to chat to fans and sign merchandise, the proceeds of which were all given to his WHY charity (World Hunger Year). Roughly 50% of all Harry’s gigs were benefits for WHY. He used to say that every year was a World Hunger Year.

I was a massive fan of Harry and own all of his albums. In my eyes he was one of the greatest live performers I have ever seen and only Springsteen surpasses him. He wrote and performed so many great songs. My favourites include: ‘Taxi’, ‘Better Place to Be’, ‘Sniper, ‘Bummer’, ‘The Mayor of Candor Lied’, ‘Story of Life’ and ‘Remember When the Music’.

37 years later Harry’s music still moves me and when I listen to his live albums they bring back some great memories.

My wife and I clocked up our 136^th visit to Hideaway Streatham last Friday. I don’t have records of every gig I’ve attended in my 40 odd years of gigging but I know that I have not visited any venue as often.

Our Hideaway journey began in February 2010 when we saw the Vanessa Haynes quartet. There were about 40 people in attendance and we instantly liked the venue, however the country was in the depths of the banking crisis recession and I must admit I doubted whether the venue would thrive, I am delighted to say I have been proved wrong and Hideaway has gone from strength to strength.

For those of you who have never been there, it is situated just off of Streatham High Road, very close to Streatham Station. Inside, the front two rows are tables for two with either 8, 9 or 10 tables per row depending on the number of tickets sold. Behind these rows are rows larger tables. In all the club can house about 250 diners and on really busy evenings, standing tickets are sold for the bar which is behind a glass partition at the back of the auditorium.

The food is of good quality and there is usually a choice of half a dozen main dishes, starters and deserts are also available. The drinks menu is extensive and prices are reasonable. The menu changes about three or four times a year. Often there are special cocktails available which have names relating to the night’s show.

The quality of performers has increased over the years and most performances are close to being sold out or are sold out. Some events get sold out up to six months in advance!

The shows usually consist of two one hour sets with a thirty minute break. Some artists have been known to perform longer and I have never been aware of pressure from the venue for artists to end their performances.

The acoustics of the auditorium are very good and usually the audiences respect the musicians by keeping quiet. They are usually announcements at the beginning of the show requesting that the audience show respect for the performers.

The staff are exceptionally good. They are nearly always friendly, helpful,  knowledgable and efficient. On the rare occasion when something is not quite right, they are quick to respond and correct.

If you want a good seat it is best to arrive just before the doors open, tables are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Hideaway is an exceptional small music venue and I would recommend it to anybody and everybody who enjoys live music. It feels like a second home to us.

S.E.L. Soul took the stage to polite applause, suggesting that there were not too many die-hard fans in the audience, two hours later she departed to very warm applause, suggesting that many had been won over by her soulful songs.

I saw S.E.L. Soul in Maidstone 6 years ago. She played to a small audience but I felt that she had enough potential for me to go to Hideaway to see how she has progressed.

I enjoyed the two sets, Emma-Louise has a lovely voice and was confident enough to build her set around her self-written songs with the occasional cover. Most songs were delivered with the sound of a driving bass and drums but it was good that in the second set there was a slower segment which demonstrated just how good S.E.L.’s voice was and how well her guitar and keyboard players could play. Her cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I never dreamed you leave in Summer’ was beautiful. If you would like to sample S.E.L.’s music, I suggest you try ‘Elevation’ or ‘High’. This was a very enjoyable performance.

S.E.L. is certainly an artist to watch out for.

This was our third Gospel Blues show and they just get better and better. When my wife and I saw the line-up of Daniel Thomas, Beverley Skeete and Wayne Hernandez, we knew we were in for a treat. They are three of the best of the UK’s vocalists across all genres and between they have sung BV’s for many of the greats.  So we were expecting great things and they delivered.  Gospel Blues is not just Gospel and Blues, there is plenty of Soul and RnB too

There were so many highlights. ‘Go Down Moses’, ‘Amazing Grace’, ‘God Bless The Child’, ‘Proud Mary’, ‘Stand by Me’ and ‘Let’s Stay Together’, to name but a few. The chemistry between the singers and the band was strong. Each singer told a story, Beverley and Wayne about singing with Tina Turner and Daniel about James Brown. This was one of the best value for money gigs that I have ever attended in a long time.

The show was split into two sets and the lasted over two hours with only a short break. The band was led by music director Jason Thompson, with Jason playing keys, John Jackson on Drums, Kenny Barry Bass and Clint Williams Guitar. Together they complemented the singers.

The show was promoted by Ovie of CrazySexyCoool and I would recommend you book for the next show on September 30^th if Gospel, Blues, Soul and RnB is your type of music. The way these shows are going, they will soon be playing to packed houses every fortnight and tickets will become harder to get each time. If you can’t make shows on a Sunday I would recommend seeing Beverley and Daniel perform with Michelle John at the Pheasantry on October 26^th.

This was a joyous celebration of Yolanda Brown’s 10 years in the music business. An evening of sax, stories of Yolanda’s journey and some guest performers. The performance was warmly received by a large Festival Hall audience.

My wife and I joined Yolanda’s journey in November 2010 and this was the 9^th time we have seen her across seven London venues. It has been a pleasure seeing Yolanda develop into a seasoned performer and to have witnessed the birth and growth of ‘Posh Reggae’. I have always enjoyed the sax, in my teens I listened to Junior Walker, then loved Rav Ravenscroft’s into to Baker Street then Clarence Clemons in the E Street Band.

Yolanda’s concert was a mixture of covers of popular songs and her own compositions from the albums ‘April Showers May Flowers’ and ‘Love Politics War’. There was a Reggae version of Adele’s ‘Hello’, a Bob Marley medley and an encore of Hey Jude. There were three guests. First Dame Evelyn Glennie played stunning percussion on ‘Feel the Pain’, then Lemar sang ‘The letter’ and finally Randy Valentine performed a stunning vocal on a song that I was not familiar with. This was a great night.

I look forward to continuing the journey and hope to be at the 20^th celebration. If you enjoy music, you should enjoy a Yolanda Brown concert, she has an engaging personality and is a wonderful sax player.

When I travelled to the Albany Deptford I had high expectations. I had seen Shingai Shoniwa perform twice with The Noisettes and two solo cameo performances with Yolanda Brown and Andrew Ashong. I knew that she was a born performer and had a stunning voice.

The Albany looked totally different inside compared to my last visit there in 2012. Downstairs was standing only with the stage in the centre of the floor.

There was an air of eager anticipation when Shingai was introduced at 9:00 p.m., we were told that she was really excited to be performing in Deptford, the intro music started and went on and on and on, at 9:15 she took to the stage by which time most of the audience were restless and noisy.. The show centred round music from her forthcoming EP ‘Ancient Futures’ a mix of almost every musical genre you can imagine, Jazz, Soul, Dance with a strong Afro beat and the occasional injection of punk and reggae.

Shingai was returning to a venue where she began to learn her craft as a child and was genuinely excited to be there. The performance was high energy and threatened to take off on several occasions especially when she performed Miriam Makeba’s ‘Ask the Rising Sun’ as she performed gymnastics on the balcony rail, showing what a strong voice she has.  The songs from Ancient Futures gave ample opportunity for Shingai to demonstrate her athleticism and love for theatrics but did not stretch her vocally.  I strongly believe that artists should be able to make the music they want to make and I respect Shingai for doing just that, however I will not be rushing to buy her EP but I hope it is a sucesss.  On stage Shingai is gymnastic with many twists and turns, I suspect that her musical career will be a flexible!

For the second time in a few days I felt my age.

Once or twice a year I go and see an artist who I know very little about, sometimes these choices are spectacular, other times they are embarrassingly poor. On Saturday the latest choice was Namiwa Jazz (Nam-I-Wa). Now I have seen her I know she would tell you that it was my destiny to be there.

As soon as Namiwa took to the stage I could sense that she was special, she had stage presence that few entertainers naturally have. She was confident (without a hint of arrogance), brave (she sang only her own compositions) and had a good voice. She describes her music as Afrotwang. It is an amalgam of Hip-hop, RnB, Soul with a hint of Jazz and Afrobeat. The music was not the sort I would listen to at home but the performance was good.

Namiwa had one backing vocalist, percussion, guitar, bass and drums and they all  played well. My favourite song of the night was ‘Jungle’ which was played twice, telling me that with familiarity I could grow to like her songs.

I particularly enjoyed the start of the second set where she asked three audience members for a word, then used them to make a fresh lyric. (This is not because I was one of the three and she said good things about my shirt!). To demonstrate that the experiment was not a lucky success she repeated it with three more words.

At the end I left with some admiration for this lady. She sings well, writes well, performs brilliantly and has a good heart. (She told us about the Namiwa Change Formation which offers women of colour to develop their creativity). Would I buy her music? Probably not. Would I see her again? Maybe. Would I recommend her? Definitely, I have a feeling her music will appeal to the younger generation rather than to we older folk! I certainly wish her success in a business that at times does not reward those as talented as she is.