‘Williams, her backing vocalists, and her band produced lush and bright sounds throughout the evening with bursts of more punchy musicianship’

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On 10th June 2018, The House That Soul Built attended the June edition of Natalie Williams Soul Family at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. 

Being at the helm of the most successful residency of a world renowned music venue is a feat to be admired. Natalie Williams Soul Family has had a monthly residency at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club for the past decade, celebrating a special 10^th anniversary concert in January 2017.

Natalie Williams herself boasts an accomplished career of recording and entertaining. She has recorded seven studio albums, garnering a MOBO nomination for her original material.  Moreover, Williams has performed at venues all over the world – including jazz festivals in London, Montreux, and Jakarta – both as a solo artist and as lead vocalist of jazz-funk group Incognito. In the past year she participated in the Blue Note Caribbean Jazz Cruise (alongside the likes of Gregory Porter and Marcus Miller), in addition to touring with Belgian pianist Eric Legnini. She is able to keep herself busy.

And it is easy to understand why. Williams simply overflows with charisma, whether strutting around the stage in her floral dress or bantering with the audience. She matches her skills as an entertainer with deft vocal ability. While in tone her voice seems suited to pop or even musical theatre, her stylistic choices demonstrate her fondness for jazz and soul. Across the set she scatted and ad-libbed with ease, even colouring certain songs with her heavenly soprano.

Williams’ self-penned original material, comprising the bulk of the setlist, occupies smooth, if sometimes syrupy, jazz-pop territory with soulful backing vocals. ‘It reminds me of Minnie Riperton’, noted my companion for the evening. A fair comparison. Williams, her backing vocalists, and her band produced lush and bright sounds throughout the evening with bursts of more punchy musicianship. The highlight was the 8-minute long ‘Butterfly’, part metaphor part gentle ode, which began as a mellow tune yet built towards a rapturous and enveloping climax. Phil Peskett, the standout instrumentalist of the night, seemed to be emptying a lifetime of frustration on the keys during his electrifying solo. Kudos too to Williams’ expressive scats. (Read more below the video)

Furthermore, Soul Family showcases a range of voices. Though fronted by Williams, she has no qualms occasionally delivering backing vocals or stepping aside for Soul Family’s secondary vocalists – all of whom boast session and backing vocal experience. Ladonna Harley Peters (Emeli Sandé, Corrine Bailey Ray) lent her velvety tones to Gladys Knight’s ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’. Vula Malinga, a vocalist for Basement Jaxx, performed a piano-driven rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘Saving All My Love For You’. While I would have liked for Malinga to commit more to the melancholy of the lyric (‘I’d rather be home feeling blue’), she used her rich lower register and gospel inflection inventively. Sharlene Hector (Basement Jaxx), making an impromptu visit after her planned engagement was cancelled, took to the stage in gutsy fashion for a hearty rendition of Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Was Made To Love Her’. American singer-songwriter Brendon Reilly (Dislosure) can also wail with a falsetto that would be the envy of a many a rock singer.

However, out of nowhere popped Incognito veteran Vanessa Haynes to deliver the night’s best performance, blasting at the top of her range with impeccable control on the moody and impassioned ‘Strangers’.

Each Soul Family event also features a special guest vocalist. Previous guests have included now household names such as Emeli Sandé, Amy Winehouse, and Jamie Cullum. For the June iteration, London-based ‘alternative soul’ artist Kadija Kamara performed songs from her recently released EP Nothing Left To Use. The pleading, gospel-inspired ‘Like You’ was her highlight. You can listen to Kamara’s music on iTunes and Spotify.

The full Soul Family band includes: Natalie Williams, Ladonna Harley Peters, Vula Malinga, Sharlene Hector, Brendon Reilly, and Annabel Williams on vocals, Mark Brown on sax, Ben Edwards on trumpet, Robin Mullarkey on bass, Martyn Kaine on drums, Phil Peskett on keys, and Ben Jones on guitar.

(Image taken from Soul Family Facebook page)