The First Lady of House gave a memorable performance at Hideaway.

Kym Mazelle, from Indiana USA, established herself in the UK in the late 80’s and 90’s and was a pioneer of House music. I would not call myself a fan of House music, but I was certainly aware of her music and reputation.

The songs for the two sets were mainly those released as singles by Kym with a few covers thrown in. The highlight of the show was a great version of ‘ Young Hearts Run Free’, which Kym sang originally on the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ soundtrack that sold over sixty million copies worldwide. This song was greeted with as long and loud an ovation as my wife and I have ever heard at Hideaway mid-set, Kym was visibly moved by this audience reaction which endeared her even more to her audience.

Kym is warm and charismatic and these qualities were evident throughout her performance. She sang ‘Wait’ with guitarist David D’Andrade singing the part originally performed by Robert Howard. There were covers of Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’, the Jackson Five’s ‘Shake Your Body’ (they hailed from Gary, Indiana just like Kym), the Zuton’s ‘Valerie’ and Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ which closed the show.

Kym performed well throughout but the abiding memory from this night was that mid set ovation and Kym’s reaction to it.

The 77^th anniversary of Aretha Franklin’s birth was on March 23^rd, this celebration of the Queen of Soul’s music seemed an ideal way to mark the occasion.

The show started unusually with a trailer for the documentary film ‘Amazing Grace’ which was made in 1972 but has not been released until now because of a major technical problem which the development of new technology has been corrected. Following that, Cleopatra Higgins took the stage to sing ‘Think’, the sound was poor to begin with but it was soon sorted out.

The leading vocalists for the night were Mica Paris, Amber Riley, Jaki Graham and Cleopatra. They were magnificently supported by The London Community Gospel Choir (LCGC), three backing vocalists, The Urban Soul Orchestra, two keyboard players, a guitar, a bass and drums.

The songs were a selection of Aretha’s best known songs from her glittering career and the show was anchored by Mensah Bediako in the role of the preacher who, between performances, told the story of Aretha’s life. Mensah performed his role well but I did not think that this role added anything to the show and merely disrupted the flow of the music.

Aretha’s songs were uplifting and moving and that was the case in the way they were sung on this night. There were several outstanding moments. The three backing vocalists and LCGC combined on a breath-taking version of ‘Amazing Grace’. The closing song of the first half, which saw all four vocalists together singing, ‘Natural Woman’ was superb, as was their combination on ‘Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves’. As a lover of gospel music I particularly enjoyed ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water featuring Mica Paris and LCGC. Another of my favourite moments was Cleopatra Higgins singing ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’ with a male member of LCGC. All four vocalists have their own styles but each performed well and did justice to Aretha’s music.

Aretha is now singing with the celestial choir, but as this show illustrated she is not forgotten and will never be forgotten, she will be the ‘Queen of Soul’.

This was another outstanding Beverley Skeete performance which ended with her standing on the balcony overlooking the stage receiving the deserved ovation from her audience.

My wife and I have seen Beverley perform several times and she always gives an outstanding performance. Although this was a ‘Soul and Gospel experience’, there were elements of reggae, rock and blues too. Beverley was lead singer in Bill Wyman’s ‘Rhythm Kings’ for twenty years and has sung backing vocals for Annie Lennox, Chaka Khan, George Michael, Tina Turner, Robbie Williams, Tom Jones and many more. From that list it is clear that she is comfortable singing most musical genres.

The evening started with ‘Boom, Boom’, a blues made famous by John Lee Hooker and it was followed by a beautiful song ‘Real Love’ that showcased Beverley’s vocal and song-writing talent. Beverley was joined on stage by Kevin Leo (vocals), who took the lead in several songs, Nial Tomkins (Guitar), Jason Thompson (Keyboard), Clint Williams (Bass) and John Jackson (Drums). Through the evening Beverley sang songs made famous by Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, Candi Staton / Florence and the Machine and Screamin Jay Hawkins amongst others. Kevin, who has a beautifully soulful voice, sang lead on several songs including those originally sung by Alexander O’Neil, Tom Jones and Danny Hathaway.

This was a great relaxing evening listening to two high quality vocalists and their wonderful band. My favourite songs of the night were ‘Real Love’, ”I Put A Spell On You’ and ‘My Love Is Your Love’ but every song sounded superb.

The Soul and Gospel Experience continues at the 606 Club on April 12^th, grab a ticket now if you enjoy good music.

Nina Kristofferson demonstrated her versatility singing songs from several genres including Jazz, Soul, Pop, R’nB , Musical Theatre and Classical.

Nina sang songs from Beyonce to Schubert via James Brown, Jacques Brel and Leonard Bernstein, not forgetting Puccini, Les Miserables, Adele, Aretha, Dusty, Etta and Nina. She was ably accompanied by Musical Directory Allan Rogers.

My wife and I had first seen Nina perform her own self-penned show ‘The Billie Holiday Story’ which brilliantly showcased bother her vocal and acting talent and was a breath taking performance. ‘Timeless’ started with a good version of ‘It’s A Man’s World’ and reached its high point in the first set with Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’, Pucchini’s ‘O Mio  Bambino Caro’ and  Hurley and Wilkins’ ‘Son of a Preacher Man’.

The second half maintained the standard of the first and featured strong versions of Carole King’s ‘Natural Woman’, Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ and Beyonce’s ‘Halo’. Nina bantered with her audience throughout and on three occasions invited members of the audience to dance on stage with her, her partner’s efforts earned them deserved applause.

The show was entertaining but did not have the same impact that ‘The Billie Holiday Story’ had. The latter returns to The Pheasantry soon and is well worth watching.

This was a relaxing evening listening to top class music exquisitely delivered by Alicia and her band.

For the second time in three days my wife and I took the risk of going to see somebody perform who we knew very little about. Once again our trip was well worthwhile.

Alicia sang songs written for performers across many genres in a jazz style. Alicia is one of the best singers technically that I have ever seen and it was a pleasure to watch her close up.  Her tone, clarity, control and diction were exemplary and she made it look effortless.  I recall Judy Collins singing a capella at Royal Albert Hall in the 1970’s and Alicia’s clarity and tone brought back that memory. It was perhaps fitting that Alicia’s encore was ‘Both Sides Now’ a hit for Judy Collins in the UK and the song that introduced me to the work of Joni Mitchell.

The show opened with a song which told the audience how happy Alicia was to be with us on the night. The two sets were based around Alicia’s last two albums ‘Intuition: Songs From The Mind of Women’ and Timeless. Amongst the songs sung were ‘Cherokee Louise’ a little performed Joni Mitchell song from Joni’s ‘Night Ride Home’ album, Sade’s ‘No Ordinary Love’, Michael Jackson’s ‘Human Nature’ and the closing song Tracy Chapman’s ‘Give Me One Reason’. Alicia  included a song that one of her vocal students had written which had moved her when she first heard it and a song written by Angela Bofill both of which I had not heard anybody perform before.

Alicia is charismatic and made her audience feel appreciated and part of the performance, she got us to click our fingers to represent raindrops, when she sang one of her own compositions, and to sing some choruses on other songs.

Quite a few of the songs featured excellent piano solos from Robert Mitchell a member of an excellent band that also featured  a six string bass and drums.

If you get the opportunity to see Alicia perform or to listen to her music, I would recommend that you take it.

Anu Omideyi’s beautiful broad smile, infectious personality, beautiful voice and uplifting music spread joy and love throughout the 606 Club.

Once in a while my wife and I go to see performers who we have never heard of. Anu is the reason why. Her performance was fantastic and her music was beautiful, well worth the journey. This was our twenty-five Gospel Brunch and this was one of the best.

From the moment Anu arrived on stage and thanked us all for coming to the moment she departed to loud applause, we were richly entertained.

Anu had the support of some excellent musicians and backing singers Dave Niskin on guitar (who we had seen play with Yolanda Brown three weeks ago), Nicky Brown (piano), Josiah Oyekunle (Drums), Tunji Dairo (Bass), Manley O’Connor (Keys),  Shanelle Sinclair, Esther Odekunle and Ester Folorunson (Backing Vocals)

There were many highlights including a performance from Nicky Brown singing a song based on Psalm 23 (The Lord Is My Shepherd) with Anu and her backing singers, Stromzy’s Blinded By Your Grace,Mary Mary’s Shackles and Anu’s own songs ‘The Worship Must Go On’ and ‘Dance in the Rain.

Tunji Dairo and Shanelle Sinclair were given solo spots and showed that they have rich vocal talent too.

The performance ended with an encore which was another of her self-penned songs ‘Restore the Faith’ in which Anu  successfully got most of the audience to join in the chorus.

The audience were richly entertained and left the 606 Club with smiles on their faces.

This was a joyous celebration which launched a series of celebratory concerts marking the 25th Anniversary of the formation of the IDMC Gospel Soul Choir.

This was the third time that my wife and I had seen IDMC perform (all at Hideaway), the other two were both Christmas themed. It was fitting that as IDMC celebrated 25 years, we were at Hideaway for the 150th time.

The show features songs charting the choir’s history from 1984-2019. The first set featured choir members from the earlier years, the second set featured the current members.

Both choirs sang really well with good harmonies ably supported by the musicians. The songs from their eight albums were sung in chronological order finishing with some new songs. John Fisher (Founder, Musical Director and Keyboard Player) anchored the show with introductions and stories of the choir’s journey.

The highlight of the show was the penultimate song of the night, their new single ‘I Believe’ which was an illustration of Gospel singing at its best.

The show  closed with a Danny Thomas song featuring both choirs and probably broke the record of most performers on the Hideaway stage simultaneously. This was the song that they sang when competing in the Songs Of Praise Gospel Choir of the Year competition last year.

The  over riding memory of the night will be the joyous look on the faces of not only the singers and musicians but also their support members off stage.

Any lover of Gospel Music should join in the celebrations over the next few months.

Ayo-Dele’s performance was outstanding. Becoming gave her a wonderful opportunity to showcase her acting, play-writing, singing and song-writing talent and she showed her audience her excellence at each of these.

I first became aware of Ayo-Dele Edwards in 2005/6 when I first heard the Gospel group GK Real, I remember an acoustic version of ‘From The Heart’ which featured Ayo-Dele on lead vocals and enjoyed the rich tone and beauty of her voice. Seven years later, I bought her first solo album ‘Forever Becoming’ which I still enjoy listening to, particularly the tracks sung in Yoruba, I do not understand the words but appreciate the beauty of her voice and the melody. Last year I saw her acting in ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ at the Arcola Theatre.  As a result, my wife and I arrived with expectations of being entertained but these were exceeded with a breath-taking performance which was at times moving, at other times witty and enthralling throughout.

This was a one-woman autobiographical play featuring some of the songs from ‘Forever Becoming’, a story of personal growth, learning, love, fear and acceptance of change. The evening started with a witty announcement in a Nigerian accent regarding mobile phones before Ayo-Dele entered the auditorium from the back of the tiered seating, offering chocolates to some of the audience as she took the stage.

The play covered the challenges of childhood, her early schooling as a British girl in Nigeria and her secondary schooling as a Nigerian in Britain. It moves on to the challenges of adult life including being abandoned by the father of her child,  finding a husband and being re-united with her father  after twenty years.

Ayo-Dele left the stage to a standing ovation climbing to the top of the banked seating, handing out her remaining chocolates. She returned to the stage and received more rapturous and thanked her musical director (husband Emmanuel) and percussionist.

The acting was superb, the songs were beautifully delivered and she adopted the accents of her relatives and teachers, from Nigerian  to South London very effectively. The performance was honest, heartfelt and endearing. We left with a knowledge of who Ayo-Dele is and how she got there.

The only other one person musical plays I have seen featured Apphia Campbell ‘Black is the Color of My Voice’ and ‘Woke’ and this year they got a West End run in the Trafalgar Studios. Becoming is equally as good and I hope audiences across the country will be given the opportunity to see Ayo-Dele perform.

Jean Carne, who has been in the music business for fifty years, showed that she still has the voice, energy, enthusiasm and stage presence to entertain an audience.

I am a little surprised that I had never heard of her Jean Carne until she was booked to appear at Hideaway last year. I was booked elsewhere at that time. However her performance was so highly rated by an attendee, whose opinion I value, that I made sure that I saw her this time around.

Her voice sounded good, she has a very likeable personality and she sang some beautiful songs. She spoke warmly about performers she had known like Teddy Prendergrass , Grover Washington Junior and Aretha Franklin, who are no longer with us and others like Martha Reeves who are still performing.

What impressed me most was that Jean Carne asked the audience for requests in both sets and sang more than half a dozen of them. Few performers do this. Of those I have seen in recent years only Springsteen comes to mind and he insisted that his E Street Band are familiar with all of his back catalogue. Jean Carne had a British band who knew only the songs they had rehearsed, but did join in with some of the others. Generally, Jean Carne was singing unaccompanied which is a challenge, however much experience a performer has.

I knew nothing about Jean Carne’s songs but enjoyed the night. Highlights were, ‘ Closer than Close, ‘ Don’t Let It Go To Your Head’ and two duets originally recorded with Teddy Prendergrass with backing singer Nic Vani, a South African who starred in the London production of ‘Lion King’, he showed he had a beautiful voice.

A wonderful evening ended with rapturous applause from a sell-out audience.

The first time my wife and I saw Acantha Lang perform, we thought she was superb. We have seen her perform several times since and every time she improves on her previous performance. This show was the best of them all to date.
The show began with 9th Ward, a New Orleans song sung by a New Orleans native with a distinctive New Orleans vibe. Acantha played a mixture of her own songs, some of which were new, and some scintillating covers. The self-penned songs sat comfortably alongside those written by Bob Dylan, Bert Bacharach and Hal David, Phillip Mitchell and Bobby Lance and Fran Robbins whilst her versatility was shown singing gospel, blues, R’nB and soul superbly.
It is impossible to pinpoint a highlight because every song was delivered to such a high standard. Acantha had the support of a great band, Emlyn Francis (Guitar), Mike Horne (Drums), Dave Mian (Trumpet), Ricky Mian (Sax) Neil Raymond (Bass) and Andy Noble (keys) with CeCe and Ruthie on backing vocals. All were given an opportunity to shine.
Amongst Acantha’s own songs, there were two that I had not heard before ‘He Said, She Said’ (a song about mis-information on social media) and ‘Come Back Home’ (about Acantha’s father who she did not see for twenty years, written before their reunion) and look forward to hearing them again. ‘Breathe’ (my personal favourite) and ‘Lois Lang’ (a song abot Acantha’s Mum who is a superwoman) which were written in the last year featured again, together with old favourites ‘Ride This Train’, ‘Eventually’, ‘Gonna Be Alright’, ‘Keep On’ and the encore ‘Mighty Mighty’.
The covers included ‘Hurt So Good’ sung in the style of Millie Jackson, ‘I Shall Be Released’ in the style of Nina Simone and the Janette Mason ‘D’Ranged’ version of ‘I Say a Little Prayer’.
Acantha managed her sell-out audience well, encouraging participation at times and telling a small noisy group to keep quiet when she slowed the tempo down. She is charismatic with a bubbly personality.
I am delighted that Acantha announced that she is recording a full album with band as a follow up to her Acoustic EP. It promises to be an album worth hearing and playing over again.
The small venue circuit is full of accomplished artistes, but few can match the charm and vocal ability of Acantha Lang.