Buried away in St James’s, London, Quaglino’s harks back to a bygone era. An amber-lit staircase leads the way to the brasserie-styled restaurant, at the head of which sits the stage surrounded with red curtain. A regular live music venue, Quaglino’s hosted ‘Q Decades Celebrates Aretha Franklin’ last night – an homage to the Queen of Soul performed with Incognito veteran Vanessa Haynes and a live band.

The set surveyed Aretha Franklin’s discography well, beginning with the iconic ‘Respect’ (1967), Franklin’s first Billboard #1, and ending with the Luther Vandross-produced ‘Jump To It’ (1982). I always appreciate the effort to stray beyond the obvious numbers, hence my pleasure at hearing ‘Angel’ (1973), ‘A Rose Is Still A Rose’ (1998), and Aretha’s gospel version of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ (1972).

Vanessa Haynes possesses one of the finest voices in contemporary British soul. Effortless power and technique is apparent from the first note. I still vividly remember her performance four years ago at Ronnie Scott’s Motown Christmas show: a rendition of Gladys Knight’s ‘Midnight Train To Georgia’ bursting with passion and sensational vocal choices.

However, having also seen Haynes dominate Ronnie Scott’s a few weeks prior at Soul Family, last night’s performance was surprisingly lacklustre in places. An air of under-rehearsal and subdued energy weighed down many of the performances, with flubbed and mismatched lyrics marring classics such as ‘I Never Loved A Man’ and her opening number ‘Respect’. Haynes’ glorious upper-register (quite Aretha-like in its resonance and tone) felt under-utilised, and her backing singers were often rendered inaudible by the sound mix – which seemed to contribute to several missed cues. A lot of uncomfortable ear-monitor fiddling suggested problems with sound and hearing.

In spite of the above, Haynes was still able to demonstrate her formidable talents. ‘Angel’, written by Aretha’s sister Carolyn and co-produced by Aretha and Quincy Jones, was delivered with plaintive longing and with magical forays into Haynes’ upper register. Quite unusually for Aretha Franklin tributes, which tend to focus on the early years of the Atlantic era, the later songs in her career were particular highlights. The band shone on a slowed down, muddied version of The Isley Brothers ‘It’s Your Thing’, recorded by Aretha in 1982 on Jump To It. Haynes also brought wisdom and reassurance to the Lauryn Hill-penned ‘A Rose Is Still A Rose’,  a message of self-worth from an older woman to a younger one, with opening acapella scats which flowed into a neo-soul groove.

Though a flawed showing, we remain confident in Ms Haynes’ talents and eagerly anticipate her original material. Her self-penned song ‘Strangers’ (embedded below) has certainly whet our appetites for a future album.

The Full Band: 

Vox: Manuela Panizzo, Adeola Shyllon, Janet Ramus
Trumpet: Sid Gauld
Sax: Patrick Clahar
Keys: Tom O’Grady
Drums: Francesco Mendolia
Guitar: Emlyn Francis
Bass: Yolanda Charles

(Image taken from Vanessa Haynes’ Facebook page)