‘Vula spills with musicality, often improvising with the band and ad-libbing intuitively.’
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‘Come on, girl! ‘ Such endorsements were muttered (sometimes hollered) every time Miss Vula Malinga executed one of her vocal acrobatics. The soul singer, formerly of the London Community Gospel Choir and Basement Jaxx, has done the rounds. She has written for Lalah Hathaway, performed for Quincy Jones, and is part of Natalie Williams’ Soul Family – the most successful residency at legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s.
Last night she performed a sold-out show at Pizza Express Live, High Holborn as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival.
It was a lukewarm start admittedly, but after a couple of songs Vula and the band found their groove. She performed covers, songs from DivaGeek (a musical partnership between Vula and instrumentalist Ben Jones), and new original material. On ‘Money’ – a DivaGeek original and an expression of unashamed desire for the ‘mean green’ – she scatted, riffed, and jazzed up the song. Likewise with a rendition of Daryl Hall and John Oates’ ‘I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)’.
The voice is limitless. She can comfortably sink low, and wail upwards into a wayward head voice – with lots of jagged, wispy, and throaty tones in between. Vula spills with musicality, often improvising with the band and ad-libbing intuitively.
The set was broken up with an interlude from Vula’s backing vocalists. Matthew Allen performed a remixed version of The Weeknd’s ‘Can’t Feel My Face’, slowing down the groove of the song and singing with clear-toned R&B chops. Brendan Reilly, also a regular member of Soul Family, delivered George Michael’s ‘Jesus to a Child’ – written by Michael as a tribute to his lover, Anselmo Feleppa, who tragically died of AIDS. While I’m used to hearing Reilly’s epic rock wail, he sang beautifully in a plaintive, melancholic falsetto.
Vula was also joined by Broadway actress and recording artist Shoshana Bean for a performance of Aretha Franklin’s breakout hit ‘I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)’. They flipped between verses, filmed themselves off an audience member’s phone, and commanded the band – all the while digging themselves deeper and deeper into this soul classic about a woman trapped by her love for her ‘no good heart-breaker‘ of a man. Check out a clip from our Twitter feed here.
Another highlight was a cover of Deniece Williams’ ‘Free’. That slow opening verse was gossamer. Seductive beats then kicked in as Vula began to amp up the sexual intensity. The presence of many musos in the audience led to remarkably well-harmonised audience participation.
Vula also premiered new material from an upcoming EP/album, planned for a 2019 release. As she explained, the material is centred around the theme of ‘you’ – whether that be Vula addressing herself, a romantic partner, or people in general. ‘Ain’t no doubt about it / Baby it’s you,’ she sang on potential lead single ‘You’. In a brilliant flourish she tapped out the band, singing a few refrains a cappella with just her backing vocalists.
The Full Band:
Oli Rockberger – Keys
Sam Crowe – Synths
Lawrence Insula – Bass
Gareth Brown – Drums
Brendan Reilly – Backing Vocals
Matthew Allen – Backing Vocals
(Image taken from Pizza Express Live website)
