LATEST REVIEW FROM LONDON

Clearly, the Telegraph's, rather right wing leanings have not impaired their sense of good judgement.

Wanted to share this well deserved and complimentary review of Madeleine's fabulous show at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Pete

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/08 /12/bmmad12.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/08/12/ixartleft.html



     

Passion with precision
(Filed: 12/08/2005)
Hugh Gregory reviews Madeleine Peyroux at Shepherd's Bush Empire
Madeleine Peyroux has been dubbed one of the "finds of 2005", and the tag was fully vindicated at her first headlining concert.
     

     Wistful: Madeleine Peyroux
From the opening bars of her cover of Leonard Cohen's Dance Me to the End of Love, she put on a display that was nerveless and compelling. No mean feat, considering her previous appearances in London have been confined to small venues such as Madame JoJo's or Pizza Express. The Empire is another ball-game entirely, and, to add to the pressure, the concert was sold out.
Yet the tall and willowy Peyroux, dressed in a pink, floaty gypsy dress, dominated the stage like a seasoned professional. She had steady support from her backing band. The rhythm section were impeccable, with the bassist picking out an urgent metronomic pulse, while the keyboards and piano provided colour and texture.
Peyroux's guitar work was also a revelation as she fed intricate lines and deft phrases into the mix. But it was her voice that had inspired the audience to make the trip.
Much has been made already of the similarities in phrasing and timbre between Peyroux and Billie Holiday, and the huskiness certainly evokes Lady Day. But Peyroux has a lightness and precision that is quite distinct from Holiday.
She glides over the rhythm, turning songs such as W C Handy's jazz standard Careless Love into an insidious, insistent groove, while Bob Dylan's You Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go becomes an acquiescent acceptance of the inevitable.
She gave a delivery of J'ai Deux Amours that was as wistful as it was provocative, and Peyroux's ability, through years of residency in France, to make the most of her second language demonstrates a flair and understanding that makes her stand out from other jazz singers. It was not until the very end, when she broke into This Is Heaven to Me, that one remembered the Holiday comparisons again.
But, on the evidence of this performance Peyroux is resolutely her own person with her own style, and not only had she risen to the occasion, she'd reached another level of brilliance. "
          

Thanks for the review. No substitute for hearing artists at work, but interesting, often for the reviewers own quirks as much as for information about the performance.

Here, for example, the reviewer remarks on the "urgent metronomic pulse" of the bass. "Metronomic" unavoidably implies mechanical precision: a stark contrast to the characteristically supple timing of the rhythm section and the artist's own phrasing, evident in all her recorded work.

Harrumph. Verbal padding, though its clear enough the reviewer liked this rhythm section.

 

Dammit, the Barbican Gig is already sold out. Just tried to get tickets.

Hope you've got yours Roy.
Enjoy.