It has been seven years since Ledisi last came to London. A packed Jazz Cafe gave her a very warm reception; hopefully her next visit will be sooner than seven years.

I am not familiar with many of Ledisi’s songs. However, before this show, I was aware that she is considered to be one of the world’s best soul singers. After watching her performance,  she has risen in my estimations and I understand why she has such a good reputation.

Throughout the hour and three quarter set, Ledisi’s velvety soulful voice held the attention of the audience and earned rapturous applause. Her voice is powerful and she controls it immaculately. She did not talk a lot but did find the time to ask the audience to put away their phones and made the point that everyone inside Jazz Cafe had paid to be there, why should others watch the show at home for free.  I applaud this stand, mobile phones are a huge irritant, they block sightlines, their flashlights can be blinding and their use shows total disrespect for the performer and the audience.

It is difficult to single out the stand out songs of the night, but if pushed I would select ‘In the Morning’ and ‘Hello’ and a strong version of Carole King’s  ‘Natural Woman’ which evoked memories of the Queen of Soul. Ledisi is one of several contenders to be the successor to the late, great Aretha Franklin.

London loved Ledisi, let’s hope she returns soon.

Kimberly Nichole opened the show performing four songs with the accompaniment of an acoustic guitarist. The only song I knew was ‘House of the Rising Sun’, she was confident and has a strong voice. She is certainly an artist’s to keep an eye on.

Sadly David Bowie is no longer with us but his music is very much alive as illustrated by this great Hideaway show.

The show is in its sixth year. It started when Bowie was still alive. I first saw it in 2016, just days after Bowie’s passing. Each year the songs chosen are different, the arrangements vary but the show is always a celebration of his music.

The show featured David Mcalmont and Sam Obernik on vocals, musical director Janette Mason (piano and keyboard), Emlyn Francis (guitar), Jack Pollit (drums) and Simon Little (bass).

Janette Mason has been the musical director of many shows at Hideaway, she is a brilliant pianist and her re-arrangement of well-known songs is amazing. Her album ‘D’Ranged’ gives many examples of her own arrangements and includes ‘Lady Grinning Soul’ a lesser known Bowie song that featured in the show.

David Mcalmont has one of the UK’s finest voices with an incredible range, I first heard him when he was singing with Bernie Butler in Mcalmont and Butler. More recently, I’ve seen him perform with Guy Davies in  Fingersnap and singing in shows featuring the music of Prince, Billie Holliday, Dusty Springfield, Shirley Bassey and James Bond themes, he is very versatile. He is a great showman, a great raconteur and a superb performer. He excels at interpreting songs and is a perfect choice for this show.

Sam Obernik has a low register, she has a charismatic stage presence and is an ideal vocal partner for David Mcalmont.

The show featured several well-known Bowie songs and a few lesser known ones. I am not a massive Bowie fan but his songs have been a part of my life since 1969. There were several highlights Mcalmont’s  ‘Suffragette City’ and ‘Starman’, Obernik’s ‘ Life on Mars’ andthe duets on ‘Black Star’ and ‘Space Oddity’.

At the end the sell-out show the audience gave the musicians a raucous ovation which was thoroughly deserved. If you like the music of Bowie or just like good music, buy tickets for next year’s show.

Six women from Birmingham came to London and gave a scintillating vocal performance that had a sold-out audience at Kings Place on their feet shouting for more at the end.
This was the fourth time that my wife and I have seen Laura Mvula perform. We’ve seen her with her own band, with her band and orchestra, solo and now with Black Voices. She is one of the UK’s best singers, best song-writers and an accomplished pianist; she is innovative and she has a very bright future ahead of her. I still cannot understand why Sony dropped her from their label, a decision I hope they will regret. Black Voices are an a capella quintet who were formed in 1987, I find it hard to believe it has taken over 30 years to find them but I am so glad I have. The members of the group are: Carol Pemberton, Sandra Francis, Shereece Storrod , Celia Wickham-Anderson and Beverley Robinson. We should all be grateful to the group’s founder and director Carol Pemberton, who is Laura’s aunt, because Laura told us that without her support, perseverance and encouragement she would not have become a successful artiste.
This show opened the 10th London A Capella Festival and was part of the Kings Place Venus Unwrapped season celebrating women in music. The music industry still seems to be male dominated and many talented female artists remain unsigned, so it is good that Kings Place is championing women.
Singing a capella is exceptionally difficult there is nowhere to hide if you make a mistake. From the opening song, Nina Simone’s ‘Four Women’, on which Laura and Black Voices sang, this was perfection.
The theme of the night was to celebrate the women of the world. Six of the songs were Laura Mvula’s own compositions from the ‘Sing to the Moon’ album, the remainder were songs written and sung by women. The only instrumentation was provided by Laura Mvula who played piano when singing her own songs and percussion on some of the numbers provided by Remi Fadare.
It is difficult to highlight any of the songs, they were all very good. However it was great to hear Black Voices sing an a capella version of the reggae hit ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ (During this song Laura Mvula was just offstage having fun dancing and joining in with the vocals.) There was another Black Voices song that just featured the a capella sound of instruments being played. During this song the audience were invited to play their instruments but only the air variety.
A number of the songs of the night were originally sung by Nina Simone, others included one written and sung by Edith Piaf. The show ended with Laura Mvula’s ‘Sing to the Moon’ and Nina Simone’s ‘Be My Husband’
Laura Mvula looked totally at ease singing with Black Voices, as if it were a regular occurrence. The night was such a success that I hope this is not going to be the only time they sing together.

Six women from Birmingham came to London and gave a scintillating vocal performance that had a sold-out audience at Kings Place on their feet shouting for more at the end.
This was the fourth time that my wife and I have seen Laura Mvula perform. We’ve seen her with her own band, with her band and orchestra, solo and now with Black Voices. She is one of the UK’s best singers, best song-writers and an accomplished pianist; she is innovative and she has a very bright future ahead of her. I still cannot understand why Sony dropped her from their label, a decision I hope they will regret. Black Voices are an a capella quintet who were formed in 1987, I find it hard to believe it has taken over 30 years to find them but I am so glad I have. The members of the group are: Carol Pemberton, Sandra Francis, Shereece Storrod , Celia Wickham-Anderson and Beverley Robinson. We should all be grateful to the group’s founder and director Carol Pemberton, who is Laura’s aunt, because Laura told us that without her support, perseverance and encouragement she would not have become a successful artiste.
This show opened the 10th London A Capella Festival and was part of the Kings Place Venus Unwrapped season celebrating women in music. The music industry still seems to be male dominated and many talented female artists remain unsigned, so it is good that Kings Place is championing women.
Singing a capella is exceptionally difficult there is nowhere to hide if you make a mistake. From the opening song, Nina Simone’s ‘Four Women’, on which Laura and Black Voices sang, this was perfection.
The theme of the night was to celebrate the women of the world. Six of the songs were Laura Mvula’s own compositions from the ‘Sing to the Moon’ album, the remainder were songs written and sung by women. The only instrumentation was provided by Laura Mvula who played piano when singing her own songs and percussion on some of the numbers provided by Remi Fadare.
It is difficult to highlight any of the songs, they were all very good. However it was great to hear Black Voices sing an a capella version of the reggae hit ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ (During this song Laura Mvula was just offstage having fun dancing and joining in with the vocals.) There was another Black Voices song that just featured the a capella sound of instruments being played. During this song the audience were invited to play their instruments but only the air variety.
A number of the songs of the night were originally sung by Nina Simone, others included one written and sung by Edith Piaf. The show ended with Laura Mvula’s ‘Sing to the Moon’ and Nina Simone’s ‘Be My Husband’
Laura Mvula looked totally at ease singing with Black Voices, as if it were a regular occurrence. The night was such a success that I hope this is not going to be the only time they sing together.

Reel People’s soul, disco and boogie songs had nearly everyone in a packed Hideaway on their feet and dancing the night away.
Reel People featured four vocalists of rich pedigree. Tony Momrelle who until recently was a regular performer with Incognito. Paula Champion, from Atlanta Georgia, who sings with the great Angie Stone. Vula Malinga, the Vu of LaShaVu and a backing vocalist with a host of big named artistes. Holly Petrie who like Vula is a session singer for the stars. They were supported by an excellent band including Emiliano Pari on keys and Tony Remy on guitar.
Reel People played two sets of up-tempo soul, disco and boogie songs with Tony Momrelle singing a soulful lead on about half the songs, Paula Champion, who is a powerful vocalist who gives her all, sang lead on five songs. Vula Malinga whose voice has an amazing tone and vast range sang lead on four (including a duet with Sharlene Hector the Sha of LaShaVu. Holly Petrie sang lead on just one song but showed what a fine voice she has. Amongst the songs were ‘Golden Lady’, ‘Seven Days to Wonder’ and ‘Second Guess’ and songs from their new album ‘Retroflection’.
If you like these music genres I would recommend them, take a dip into their latest album.

This EP was released in 2016 and now sits proudly in my CD collection as one of my favourites ranking alongside artistes who are far more famous than this young lady.

In 2016 my wife and I regularly attended the 606 Club Gospel Brunches. In September Kingdom Choir were invited to perform. The show was excellent and choir leader gave some of the choir members an opportunity to showcase their own music. Mariam was one of these artists, she performed ‘Be There For Me’. I enjoyed her performance and in November I ordered her CD. It arrived quickly with a little note thanking me for my purchase.

Two days later I was in my car travelling for work and I played the CD, it struck me immediately how good it was and the closing song ‘Running’ was one of those songs that I instantly loved. On the way home I played that track on repeat for about forty minutes! I emailed Mariam, telling her how good the EP was and she responded  thanking me for my kind words and telling me that Kingdom Choir were returning to 606 in December. It was my Birthday on the day and I took my EP to the 606 hoping that Mariam would sign it. She was not in the choir that day but did attend and kindly signed the EP, the choir were amazing (even without her) and it was one of my best Birthdays ever!

There are five songs on the CD.

Track 1 –Be There For Me

This is quite ‘poppy’ with a great chorus and the sort of song that gets into one’s head and you can’t stop singing it.

Track 2 -What I Want

This is a short song with a soulful vibe.

Track 3 – Without You

This is my second favourite song on the EP with more of a gospel sound.

Track 4 – Grow

Another short track which is raw but effective with just guitar and vocals

Track 5 – Running

This track would grace any album. It has a soulful funky vibe reminiscent of Joan Armatrading or Tracey Chapman in their prime. I am amazed somebody has not covered it and made it an enormous hit. It I had to choose my Desert Island discs this song would be chosen, it is that good. There are so many contenders for my all-time top ten but this song would have to be in it.

This artiste deserves to be heard, I am delighted that she has found success with Kingdom Choir but this lady deserves to be well-known as a singer and song-writer. I recommend that you listen to this EP.

Wayne Hernandez had nearly all of a packed 606 Club on its feet for most of the second set which is a tribute to how well he can engage with his audience.

My wife and I first saw Wayne at Hideaway eight years ago and were hooked immediately. He sang the first few notes of his opening song, Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett’s ‘Superstar’. We have been attending his gigs ever since. He has a beautiful soulful voice and  a charismatic stage presence.

Recently, he has been singing with Kingdom Choir which has given him some richly deserved time in the spotlight.

At the 606 Club, Wayne opened the first set with ‘Any Love’ which was made famous by Luther Vandross. As usual his first set was fairly laid back giving Wayne an opportunity to showcase his vocal talent. He was superb with my favourites of the set being Simply Red’s ‘Holding Back The Years’ and his own song ‘ Man Out of Me’. There were opportunities for the band to show their skills with Michael Brown (Guitar), David Baptiste (Saxaphone), Junior Kane (Drums), Emlyn Allarde (Keyboard), Tom Shannon (Bass) and Vicky Akintola and Adenike Adenaike (Vocals). As always Wayne let his backing vocalists both sing lead, the two Yoruba (Nigerian) women were excellent. (The band members’ names may have been misheard, please let me know if they are incorrect)

The second half was an hour plus of non-stop up-tempo songs including Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ and ‘Master Blaster Jammin’ before the encore ‘Sexual Healing’ brought the wonderful evening’s entertainment to a close. Wayne is next at the 606 on February 24^th, if you like good soul music grab tickets whilst you can.

A sell -out 606 audience gave Lex Cameron a deserved rousing ovation at the end of two great sets.
My wife and I have seen Lex perform on many occasions as a keyboard player and backing vocalist with a number of vocalists but this was the first time we have seen him take the lead. He was supported by a strong band with Dave Ital on guitar, Nick Cohen bass and Westley Joseph drums. A backing singer Susan solitary whose voice complemented Lex’s.
Lex opened the show with two of his own compositions, ‘Free’ and ‘Forever and Ever’, the former once the winner in a listener’s poll on Choice FM in the 1980’s. Both sets included some self-penned songs and some soulful covers of songs recorded by the likes of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, George Benson, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield.
Lex has a strong voice with a good range, he was comfortable singing ballads and upbeat numbers and encouraged audience participation, the response was very positive and of good quality. My favourite song of the night was Mayfield’s ‘Moving on Up’ which enabled Lex to show just how good his voice is.
The audience were attentive and quiet unless they were providing backing vocals when they were loud and tuneful. A typical 606 audience highly respectful of the performer.
A great night. This was another illustration of the high quality of performers on the small venue circuit.

A great night. This was another illustration of the high quality of performers on the small venue circuit.

A packed first house all left with smiles on thier faces, Incognito, as always, gave a stunning performance.

Bluey started the show reminding us of the rich history of Ronnie Scotts (celebrating its 60th year) and his boyhood dreams of entering the club and his excitement at playing there as part of Incognito (celebrating their 40th year). He spoke from the heart to the heart, informing us that music was a massive part of his life and that he though that by being present music was a part of our lives.

I always think that to be invited to play in the United Nations of Incognito must be like receiving a sporting international call-up, only the best ever play or sing with this band. Yesterday’s line up featured (I believe): Matt Cooper (keyboards), Joao Caetano (percussion), Francesco Mendolia (drums), Francisco Sales and Bluey (guitars), Francis Hylton (bass), Sid Gauld (trumpet), Patrick Clahar (sax), Alistair White (trombone) and Vanessa Haynes, Imaani, Joy Rose (vocals).

The opener was ‘Thinking about Tomorrow’, I was certainly not thinking about tomorrow I was in the moment enjoying the performance. Throughout the seventy-five minute set they were superb and closed with ‘Always There’. I did not recognise many of the songs but that did not matter but their version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘As’ was magnificent as was ‘Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing’.

This was my wife and I’s eighth Incognito gig in 10 years, we will never tire of listening to this band. It was a great strat to gigging in 2019.

Martha High gave a magnificent performance energising her willing audience.
The show started with a set from the hostess Janine Johnson. Janine is charismatic and has a great voice. It is wonderful that she can be seen and heard up close in small intimate venues but it is sad that she is not better known. Her set featured strong covers of Atlantic Starr, En Vogue and Chaka Khan hits (amongst others) but it was her own songs that I enjoyed the most. Her ‘Passion’ with its words and her performance defines her as an artiste. Janine is a talented performer who has a passion for singing and song-writing whilst enjoying her craft.
Martha High spent over 30 years touring as a vocalist with the Godfather of soul James Brown. For some of those she was also his hairstylist. Now she works as a solo artist but still has great respect for her former boss, always referring to him as Mr. Brown. Her set was high energy and high quality, a mixture of soul, blues and funk. Her set included ‘The Big Payback, ‘Lean on Me’ , ‘ Cold Sweat’ and ‘Wang Dang Doodle’ during which two members of the audience joined Martha on stage to be taught the accompanying dance. The show ended with Martha and Janine duetting on a Donny Hathaway Christmas song.
This was my wife and I’s 104th and final gig of the year. It was great to end on a High.