The second iteration of the Boulevard Theatre’s late night jazz series was full of musical trivia and self-assured musicianship, including a fantastic impromptu performance.
A self-described ‘child of jazz‘, China Moses – daughter of legendary jazz artist Dee Dee Bridgewater – was this week’s resident vocalist, performing alongside an exquisite house band led by Alex Webb.
With a cocktail balanced precariously in hand, Ms Moses flexed her versatile instrument across an improvised but well-chosen selection of jazz and blues. She paid homage to Dinah Washington with the sexual invocation of ‘Fat Daddy’, shimmied to Billie Holiday’s ‘It’s Too Hot For Words’ (featured in Webb’s Cafe Society Swing narrative concert about New York’s first racially-integrated nightclub), and gave sass to Ida Cox’s vaudevillian ‘Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues’ (‘I get full of good liquor, walk the streets all night‘, Moses sang, raising her drink accordingly).
Her explosive performance at the Ronnie Scott’s 60th Anniversary Gala at the Royal Albert Hall showcased the power and range in her vocal. Yet last night, Moses catered to the intimacy of the Boulevard, singing with a light, whispery touch, letting her voice fry and wisp at the end of her phrases. But the richness and thickness of her tone was never lost. It was a particularly effective delivery when tackling the part-spoken cadences of Nellie Lutcher’s ‘Hurry On Down’, and a deeply introspective reading of Cole Porter’s slightly sinister ‘So In Love’.
Embracing the spontaneity inherent in the set-up, Moses invited Sandile Gontsana, currently starring in The Lion King at London’s Lyceum Theatre, to perform a rendition of jazz standard ‘Misty’. Exploring the different tones and nuances of his instrument, Gotsana’s phrasing was immaculate and one could not blame Moses for reneging on her proposal for a duet.
Anchoring the evening was Webb and his musical direction, in good company with saxophonist Tony Kofi, Peter Adam Hill on drums, and Michele Montolli on double bass. Kofi played gorgeously on the Noel Coward classic ‘Mad About the Boy’, adding sweeping sax riffs to Cole Porter’s ‘What Is This Thing Called Love?’
Webb and Moses’ original compositions also fitted in seamlessly alongside the various jazz and blues standards. ‘Bad Girls – Need Love Too’, from Webb’s album Call Me Lucky, was rendered with warm, cloying phrasing wrapped around Webb’s spiky lyrics. Moses closed the set with her own number ‘The Mailman The Butcher And Me’ (with lyrics from Webb) about a ménage à trois from her past. A choice number to finish with, it featured delightful interludes from Montolli and unabashedly saucy lyrics – ‘The mailman sure knows how to lick my stamp!‘
(Image copyright: Sylvain Norget)
