Madeleine in London

Wow ! Yesterday I experienced Madeleine Live - a fablous performance at
the Shepherd's Bush Empire. I was spellbound. Her voice is something
else !!! Pure Magic. You gotta go see her live. Don't expect a glittzy show,
just expect really captivating music. It really is quite something.

Here is a link to a review of the show ... and an extract.

http://www.musicomh.com/gigs2/madeleine-peyroux_0805.htm

"...Madeleine Peyroux has had an almost inperctiable rise over the last few
months. It's easy to see how she appeals to the loved up middle-class
couples who attend tonight's show in abundance - her songs are
breathlessly romantic, and have that air of sophistication that's so difficult
to pull off without sounding smug. Yet it would be wrong to class her as
another Norah Jones - she's far more intense than that.

There's a slightly awkward stage presence to Peyroux that's strangely
endearing - stood behind the microphone, clutching a guitar, she never
seems fully at ease. Until, that is, she starts singing and that voice fills
the air. It's a marvellous voice, full of emotion and longing. It's true that
she sounds uncannily like Billie Holiday, but she's not a Stars In Their Eyes
impersonator,

Peyroux turns Leonard Cohen's Dance Me To The End Of Love into a
swinging jazz number, remakes Elliott Smith's Between The Bars into a
smokey ballad straight out of 1920s Paris, and gives a haunting rendition
of Hank Williams' Weary Blues. Her band are on fine form as well, with
pianist Sam Yahel effortlessly launching into some fantastic piano solos.

This being jazz, there were a fair number of improvised solos, and some
of these did swing towards the self-indulgent. Double bass player Matt
Penman is a fine musician, but there's only so many double bass solos
one can take - thankfully drummer Scott Amendola's solo moments were
a bit shorter, as an extended drum solo is enough to test the patience of
the most saintly quite frankly.

It was Peyroux's voice that was the main draw tonight anyway. A spine-
tingling rendition of I'll Look Around was just stunning, even managing to
silence the drinkers at the bar, while she also showed that she can handle
the more uptempo numbers, as demonstrated on the country standard
Walking After Midnight or her own song Don't Wait Too Long.

There were even a few funny asides to the audience, such as the tale of
how American journalists mix up Rambo and Rimbaud when asking about
her version of Dylan's You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.
"So, when I sing about Rimbaud, it's about a 18th century poet", Peyroux
told us. "19th, actually" came the retort from one well read minded
member of the audience, reducing Peyroux to a fit of the giggles.

Her grasp of French was also shown off to fine effect, as on the old
Josephine Baker standard J'ai Deux Amours, sung perfectly by Peyroux
before a more upbeat encore of No Names Blues finished the show off to
delightful effect.

It would be a bit unfair if Madeleine Peyroux was to be lumped into the
'tasteful, Radio 2 friendly songstresses' market that's so lucrative right
now, as there's a lot more to her than that. The audience at Shepherd's
Bush certainly went away happy - when they'd eventually stopped talking
at the bar anyway..."