Last year’s Jazz Voice – the gala which opens the annual EFG London Jazz Festival – was forced online by the introduction of the second national lockdown. Fortunately, audiences were able to attend the Royal Festival Hall in person this year for a Jazz Voice that was true to form with a diverse roster of talent from the worlds of jazz and soul and the in-between.

With Jumoké Fashola resuming hosting duties, each soloist took to the stage twice, supported by the brilliant Guy Barker and the EFG London Jazz Festival Orchestra. The beauty of ensemble concerts lies in their eclecticism, and the inclusion of saxophonist and spoken word artist Lakecia Benjamin (wonderful energy) and Kurdish singer Aynur (delivering the only non-English language music of the evening) provided greater range to the set than previous galas.

Several of the voices on display had this listener rapt. On his self-penned ‘Because I Love You’, Sachal Vasandani eased into cushioned lows and rose to match the brassy, Bond-esque flavour of the orchestra. Michael Mayo used his more conventional jazz vocabulary on first song ‘You & You’ and nested in the neo-soul groove of Moonchild’s ‘Cure’ in the second set. Ego Ella May, who sings with an understated but entrancing lilt, paid homage to Amy Winehouse with a version of ‘Mr Magic (Through the Smoke)’ (a track from Winehouse’s debut Frank which samples Grover Washington Jr’s ‘Mister Magic’).

There was a healthy degree of experimentation with some risky but welcome choices. Cellist and vocalist Ayanna Witter Johnson offered an avant-garde reimagining of the Bee Gees’ ‘How Deep is Your Love’ as well as the gentle lullaby of ‘Sing On Nightingale’, inspired by the sign-off she often received from late poet Michael Horovitz. Scottish singer Georgia Cécile fished out the obscure Gershwin tune ‘Do It Again’ (which she discovered on Judy Garland’s Judy at Carnegie Hall album) for her second set number, singing with lovely finesse.

The performances of the evening belonged to French-Caribbean songstress Adeline, whose ringing, resplendent voice shone on original song ‘Twilight’ and a poignant cover of Donny Hathaway’s ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’.

It seems that Jazz Voice can never resist a finale group performance. This year, all the soloists returned to the stage to deliver the title track from Marvin Gaye’s iconic What’s Going On album, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Again, as with previous years, it proves difficult (and misguided) to carve up a single song between several stylistically disparate artists (all required to sing in the same key). The closing performance should have been the second set’s opening medley: an orchestral tour-de-force of jazz film scores, including The Italian Job, Alfie, and Taxi Driver. With Barker at the helm, the orchestra sounded terrific.

Check out the London Jazz Festival 2021 series here! 

All photography courtesy of Emile Holba.