Jun
9
Written by:
carrie
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Cornerhouse gave us a night of musical delight at ‘After Dark’ Jazz Cabaret. Singers Debra Shepherd, James Bailey, Sophie David, Rachael Greer, Emily Newton, Meta Thomas, Jonathan Williams and Dean Robertson performed spine tingling tunes accompanied by their very own tip top live jazz band lead by Nic Luker.
After Dark took us to any time, any place and anywhere across the Globe. It was staged with dimmed lights, cabaret tables and Tapas style finger food so that the audience didn’t have to take too many leaps to imagine sitting nearby any of the Jazz greats in any era we were listening to. The Cabaret included songs known and not-so-known including Diana Krall, Jamie Callum, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Peggy Lee, Norah Jones and Robbie Williams (at his most respectable naughtiest).
Each of the singers used the full range of their singing and acting abilities. The selection of 32 songs was hand-picked by vocal coach Keesha McLean to suit the skills of each singer. The confidence of all of the singers was incredible, which was a testiment to their talent and enjoyment of music and Keesha McLean’s positivity and skills as a teacher and guide. Saying that, it was in every respect the performers evening and as audience members we sat back and let every singer lead us through some very special songs and even introduced us to some new ones.
One of the real successes of After Dark was staging performances back to back with seamless breaks in between. Singers stood or sat on cabaret stools under spotlights, Rachael Greer, Jonathan Williams and Emily Newton got close to the band on stage which made performances of songs like ‘Crawling Up A Hill’ more intimate.
The singers all handled what were diverse, sometimes very well-known and therefore quite tricky songs to make their own. However, each singer was entirely individual and made each song and performance personal and different from the last. There were many moments of greatness. When Meta Thomas sang 'Porgy', you could see the emotion behind her performance and how much the tune was loved. Debs' Shepherd’s bass notes in "Peel A Grape" sent shivers through the audience. There was a gasp of; "oooh wow !" when she reached deep into her chest and hit the low note and she got a very deserved Jazz - club style round of applause.
My personal favourite was "Don't Know Why ", Sophie David sang it sensitively and beautifully. Introducing Dean Robertson and Jonathan Williams into After Dark for the first time gave more range to the songs. Male singers such as Michel Buble, Jamie Callum and Nat King Cole balanced the great tunes by great female singers like ‘Do Right’ , sung by Rachael Greer.
There was a moment when Meta Thomas was swaying along to Dean Robertson’s spot-on ‘Moondance’ which hung together beautifully for us sitting in the audience. It was exactly like being in a West End show where all the singers connect with each other's performances. There was a lady in the audience who sang in a low voice word for word along with Debs Shepherd singing 'What The World Needs Now'. It was touching that she remembered every word and was enjoying herself singing along.
The absolute strength of After Dark was that there wasn't one moment when I wasn't aware that it was the singer themselves singing, rather than an attempted impersonation. When in the interval the CD of the original tracks was playing it made me realised exactly how individual each singer was.
I felt as if I’d won a golden ticket, giving me a one-off night in a sumptuous Jazz club listening to my favourite jazz singers. After Dark was bang up to date and not at all dated. It was a wonderful night with wonderful performances and it was thrilling to watch each singer giving it their all.
http://www.thecornerhouse.org/shows/show.aspx?showid=268
Copyright ©2011 Carrie HitSmith