Once again Wayne’s beautiful, soulful voice and charismatic stage presence ensured that the 606 audience had an enjoyable evening’s entertainment.
My wife and I have now seen Wayne perform twenty-nine times in nine years and he always delivers an excellent performance.
His band were superb and were all given opportunities to show their prowess. The band members were: Michael Brown (Guitar), David Baptiste (Saxaphone), Perry Melius (Drums), Emlyn Allarde (Keyboard), Wayne Nunes (Bass) with Tess Burstone and Adenike Adenaike providing backing vocals) As always Wayne let his backing vocalists both sing lead, and they did not let him down.
The first set featured several slower songs including ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’ and two self-penned compositions, one of which was the excellent ‘Man Out of Me’. The second setwas an hour plus of non-stop up-tempo songs culminating in a version of ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ which evoked memories of the late great Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and of Marion Powell, who, until her death in 2014, used to regularly sing backing vocals and duet with Wayne. Throughout the second set many of the audience were on their feet and joining in with the singing. Wayne and his band were called back for an encore which was Carole King’s ‘You Got A Friend’.

Melissa Etheridge thrilled her fans with a high energy performance at the Indigo.
I first became aware of Melissa Etheridge in 1989 with the release of her ‘Brave and Crazy’ album. I last saw her life twenty-five years ago, so it seemed apt to watch her on the ‘Yes I Am 25th Anniversary tour.’
Twenty-five years later, her deep raspy voice sounds the same and she is still a fine guitar player.
The show opened with ‘All American Girl’ from the ‘Yes I Am ‘ album and, not surprisingly, seven songs featured in the set from this album, including ‘Talking To MyAngel’, a song written after the passing of Melissa’s Father. There were two songs from ‘Brave and Crazy’ which were ‘Let Me Go’ and ‘Used to Love to Dance’.
The gig ended with ‘Bring Me Some Water’ from the debut album before an encore of ‘The Medicine Show’ (The world premiere of the title track of her latest album, earlier Melissa had played two other tracks from this album) and ‘Like The Way I Do’ which featured a great guitar solo from Melissa then a drum duet with drummer Eric Gardner.
This was a great night of nostalgic rock music which pleased her loyal fans.

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.

A sell-out Hideaway audience were given a treat as Imaani and her band presented a night of love songs.
The love songs came from different genres and from different perspectives. There were songs written by Imaani herself and others made famous by the likes of Luther Vandross, Patrice Rushen, Ledisi and Robert Glasper, James Ingram and Patti Austin, Incognito, Bread, Rihanna, John Meyer and Percy Sledge.
Imaani’s voice and stage persona are big. The first set started with her own song ‘Let’s Do It Right’ and also featured her own ‘Found My Light’ and ‘Please Let Me In’. The set included amongst others, a great version of ‘Diamonds In the Sky’ with a little touch of ‘Human Nature’ which was dedicated to her nine year old son.
The second set opened with ‘If Loving You is Wrong’ followed by ‘Always There’. There was a version of ‘Everything I Own’ which was more Ken Booth than Bread. Fellow Incognito member Joy Rose took to the stage and sang one song, her voice and smile are always a pleasure to hear and see.
The highlight for me was her tribute to James Ingram, she duetted with Lex Cameron on ‘Baby Come To Me’. Imaani’s band were superb, featuring Lex Cameron (Keyboards and Flute), Emlyn Francis (Guitar), Alexis Kantouris (Bass) and Daniel John (Drums).
Amongst the audience were two great singers, Acantha Lang and Kevin Leo. This was a great gig and a lovely way to spend a St. Valentine’s evening with one’s loved one.

Louise Clare Marshall gave another superb performance at Pizza Express. She seems to get better every time she appears on stage.
Louise opened the night with two of her own songs taken from her second album, ‘In My Mind’ and ‘Beautiful’, the latter being the title track. On ‘Beautiful’, Louise played the piano, as she did on her next three numbers which were in memory of the late great James Ingram who passed away recently. These included his most well-known song ‘Yah-Mo Be There’ which he recorded with Michael McDonald.
Early in the second set the excellent band (Luke Smith on keyboard, Dave Ital on guitar, Carlos Hercules on drums, Steve Pearce on bass and Karl Vanden Bossche on percussion) left the stage and Louise duetted with her sister, Melanie, on the title track from her debut album ‘Wait for You’. Louise’s daughter Alicia then took to the stage and played a piano piece with Carlos Hercules on drums and then sang a duet ‘Eleanor Rigby’ with her Mum. Alicia, who is about eleven years old, is very talented but came across as a very humble and grounded young girl, a credit to her parents.
The band returned and the show concluded with a version of ‘Moon River’, Louise’s own ‘Guess I’m Really Sorry’ and a reggae version of ‘Chain Reaction’. The audience brought everyone back for a two song encore Candi Staton’s’ Young Hearts Run Free’ and Aretha’s ‘Rock Steady’

Louise has a beautiful voice and is an accomplished song-writer (her songs sat comfortably alongside those written by Lennon and McCartney, Artetha Franklin and Henry Mancini) and is fast becoming a very good live performer. The band were superb and were each given opportunities to show their skills. Karl Vanden Bossche’s tambourine solo was a rare treat, I can’t remember witnessing one in my forty-seven years of gigging.
It is great to see Louise perform in intimate venues. She is very charismatic and seems comfortable taking the lead, if you like music she is a must see.

My wife and I first attended a 606 Gospel Brunch in 2013 and this was our twenty-fourth, however this was our first for nine months. They are held once a month, usually on the second Sunday. Some feature a solo Gospel Act but at least half feature the 606 Gospel Group. The Gospel Group gigs are always good and on occasions they are superb. Much depends on which singers are available and then on the chemistry between the singers. Originally the shows were organised by Tracey Campbell but now Andre Gabriel holds the organisational baton.
This show was a good one; it featured four vocalists, Brenda Emmanuel and three others, whose names I did not pick up. The band had a keyboard player, a drummer and Andre Gabriel on bass. The songs were all gospel songs most of which I was not familiar with. One song was ‘Forever’, two that I did know were Bill Withers’ ‘Lovely Day’ and George Benson’s ‘In Your Eyes’. All the songs were uplifting, proclaiming love and thanks for Jesus. To be honest, some of the songs worked better than others, there were some outstanding vocal moments but not all the vocalists were of the same standard throughout.
It was good to be part of a large audience for, at times, some excellent gospel Brunches have been seen by far smaller audiences. A lot of work goes into the organisation of these shows and they deserve to play always to large audiences like today’s was.
If you enjoy good Gospel Music, you should see one of these shows.

Lisa Fischer’s vocal performance was stunning and thrilled a packed Ronnie Scotts audience.
I was aware of Lisa Fischer’s reputation before my wife and I arrived at Ronnie Scotts, but did not know what to expect. Anyone who has sung backing vocals for Luther Vandross, The Rolling Stones, Sting,Tina Turner and Roberta Flack had to be versatile and an exceptional singer. She certainly was exceptional; she has a great range, tone and control. There were elements of classical soprano singing switching with a number of other genres including rock and jazz.
The set lasted eighty minutes, her band of musical director and guitarist Jean-Christophe Mallard, Aiden Carroll (Bass) and Thiery Arpino (Drums) were superb. Each of the eight songs became an Opus, re-arranged brilliantly by Mallard.
The set started with The Police’s ‘Every Breath I Take’ and continued with Amy Grant’s ‘Breath Of Heaven’ . Led Zeppelin’s ‘ Rock ‘n Roll’, Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett’s ‘Superstar’ and Lisa Fisher’s own ‘How Can I Ease The Pain followed before finishing with The Rolling Stones ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ and Gimme Shelter’ which featured a memorable double bass solo from Aiden Carroll.
Throughout Lisa Fischer was charismatic and constantly joined in with the audience’s applause directing hers to the band and back to her audience. Whilst most of her career has been spent backing others, she demonstrated that she is a talented leading lady.

The Totem Gospel Choir gave a superb performance across two forty -five minute sets at Pizza Express.
I had not heard of Totem Gospel Choir before I booked, so I arrived at the gig full of hope, but not with high expectations. They boldly started with Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’ which put Kingdom Choir on the world map last Summer. This version was superb. The choir had just six vocalists, a keyboard player and a conductor but the voices were so good. Members took turns singing lead, whilst the rest harmonised beautifully. The second song was Kings of Leon’s ‘Someone Like You,’ which was equally good and during the set, they covered more great songs including ‘Oh Happy Day’, ‘ Halo’ and ‘Natural Woman’. The stand out song of the set was ‘Hallelujah’. The lead vocal sent singles down my spine, which with the beautiful harmonies was one of the best versions of Leonard Cohen’s song that I have heard.
The second set saw the keyboard player replaced by a backing tape and featured, ‘You’re All I Need,’ followed by gospel classics, ‘Shackles’ and ‘Joyful, Joyful’ then ‘Diamonds In The Sky’ with a touch of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, ‘Human’ and ‘You Got The Love’.
The choir took on some classic, well-known songs and performed them extremely well. I would certainly not hesitate in booking to see Totem Gospel Choir again. The only disappointments were that the group did not introduce themselves and that less than thirty people were there to enjoy a performance deserving of a full house.

A sell-out Hideaway audience were treated to a night of upbeat soul from Hil St. (Street) Soul.
Hil St. Soul is a typical example of an artist’s playing the small venue circuit. She is a talented singer-songwriter, is hard-working and to date has not had that big break. She has released five albums of mostly self-penned upbeat soul songs.
She opened the show with ‘Alright’ from the 2002 album, ‘Copasetik and Cool’ and followed with ‘Release’ and ‘Nostalgia’. Next up was ‘Wash Away, then ‘Bag of Chips’, Hil was in her groove now and finished the first set with the infectious ‘Don’t Forget The Ghetto’ a song about remembering where you come from and then ‘Pieces’.
The second half began with an acoustic version of ‘Until You Get Back To Me’. It is good to see somebody not trying to copy Aretha’s classic version without adaptation. ‘Strictly a Vibe Thang’ and ‘Smile followed before a rework of the Isley Brothers ‘ For the Love of You’ with opportunities for members of the front row to sing a chorus. The set closed with ‘I’ve Got Me’. Hil and her excellent band did not leave the stage before encoring with ‘Outstanding’ and ‘Because I Let You Go’.
The audience left the Hideaway going into the cold Streatham snow with a warm glow created by this performance.

Ruby Turner performed superbly at Ronnie Scott’s, once again showing that she is one of the best UK based singers, whatever the genre.
My wife and I first saw Ruby perform in 2009. We have been watching her regularly ever since. Any aspiring live performer should watch Ruby because she is one of the best in the business. She sounds good on record, but when she performs live she sounds so much better. A lot is spoken about artistes connecting with songs, Ruby does not connect with songs, she lives in those that she sings. When Ruby closed the first set with ‘Stay With Me Baby’, I suspect that everybody in the audience felt that she was personally pleading to them. If Ruby believes in a song she will make it sound fantastic, she is that good a performer.
Her band compliments her well. Nick Marland plays guitar and sings backing vocals, Paul Pryor on bass and backing vocals, Mark Walker the keyboard player and Simon Moore the drummer. Ruby takes centre stage with her powerhouse vocals.
The show featured regular favourites from Ruby’s early days: ‘In My Life’, ‘Breath I Take’ and ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. The latter is her usual closer and for ten minutes she gives a singing masterclass. I have heard many sing this song but nobody extracts the raw emotion that Ruby does. I imagine any lover of music would be moved by her performance of this classic.
Two older songs were brought back in to the set ‘Stay With Me Baby’ and ‘This Train’, a traditional American gospel song made famous by Sister Rosetta Tharp and from Ruby’s 2009 album ‘I’m Travelling On’. This was her encore song during which her band were let loose and allowed to perform solos.
Ruby additionally featured songs from her last album ‘All That I Am’ including a song inspired by her Jamaican father ‘Master Plan’ and two songs from her recently released EP ‘That My Desire,’ which were written many years ago for a production in Bristol of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’
This was the third of three consecutive sold out nights at Ronnie Scotts, there are another three scheduled for next week which are also sold out.
This was a great night and the audience applauded Ruby loudly as she left the stage, many on their feet.