This festive offering at the Royal Albert Hall was not Jules Buckley‘s first foray into Aretha Franklin’s catalogue. The brilliant arranger and conductor, known for his work with the Metropole […]

Irish singer-songwriter Imelda May admitted feeling perplexed by the invitation to headline the EFG London Jazz Festival. After all, she isn’t currently touring or promoting new material – though she […]

Talk about sounding like the record, British blue-eyed soul artist Rumer gave a knockout performance at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall without breaking a sweat. There are plenty of […]

Nina Kristofferson has a thriving cabaret career with long-running tributes to Nina Simone and Billie Holliday often selling out venues like The Pheasantry. For her EFG London Jazz Festival showing […]

British jazz artist Zara McFarlane unveiled her album Sweet Whispers – an homage to Sarah Vaughan – at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club earlier this year. I was admittedly curious how the same show would […]

You can’t fault Jazz Voice for its eclecticism. This annual gala, inaugurating each iteration of the EFG London Jazz Festival, serves up an ensemble of soloists often with varying degrees […]

Watching Beverley Knight perform does feel like you’re watching an all-time great. Her voice, brimming with soul but steely in its attack and precision, is one of the finest to […]

Sam Smith makes a captivating, stylistically diverse Proms debut It was always a childhood dream of singer Sam Smith to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. Yet the announcement of […]

Monikered ‘the Divine One’, Sarah Vaughan possessed a vocal splendour of a kind so rich and inimitable. Following an excellent run of tributes in recent years to Nina Simone, Aretha […]

Last year, the BBC Proms paid homage to the ‘Northern Soul’ movement with a stunningly popular concert that has found new life touring the UK. While ‘Northern Soul’ was, at […]

For those who want a summery festival experience without the expense, frenzy, and general slog of Glastonbury, Kew the Music makes for a damn good night. This Saturday evening in […]

At one point during this concert at the Royal Albert Hall, English soul singer Joss Stone admitted her nervousness about booking this daunting venue. Perhaps Stone, who tours more heavily […]

Chaka Khan retires (most of) her hits to give a rare performance of jazz album ClassiKhan  This year, the annual Meltdown festival at the Southbank Centre was curated by none […]

“If I could remember everything I’d done, I’d probably kill myself,” quipped Chaka Khan. Acerbic stage patter like this peppered her headline concert at the Southbank Centre, kicking off this […]